Nicolas Sarkozy, on a high after his recent European diplomatic successes, was brought to earth on Tuesday with a reminder of the economic gloom enveloping France.

Only three months after the government revised down its 2-2.5 per cent growth forecast for 2008 to 1.7-2 per cent, Christine Lagarde, finance minister, predicted that the expansion of the eurozone’s second-largest economy would be closer to the bottom end of the range. “The situation will certainly be more difficult to manage this year than last,” she said.