France to reform or fall behind rest of Europe, IMF says

France will fall behind its European neighbours unless it introduces reforms lowering its labour costs and boosting its competitiveness, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

"Restoring external competitiveness remains a critical priority and should be complemented by developing domestic sources of growth," the IMF said in its annual report on France published on 3 June.

The French economy is expected to shrink by 0.2 percent this year, slightly more than the IMF forecast la...