"The recession is behind us." 

Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau made this bold declaration on national radio today, when forecasting the French economy will make a strong recovery this year. 

France's growth "will be among the strongest in Europe, clearly above the European average," the governor said.

The country's central bank forecast the country's economy to return to its pre-crisis levels by spring or summer 2022 after its gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by 8.3 percent in 2020. The French government is aiming for 6 percent growth this year.

Also optimistic about this year's economic rebound is the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which has raised its global growth forecast to 5.6 percent, following U.S. President Joe Biden's $1.9 stimulus package.

But the picture is not as rosy everywhere in the world. "Despite the improved global outlook, output and incomes in many countries will remain below the level expected prior to the pandemic at the end of 2022," said the OECD.

Below, we have more on how the OECD's growth forecast has changed from December 2020 to March 2021, a video on how women have disproportionately suffered from the pandemic and an interview with Italian politician and expert in Chinese economics Michele Geraci, who tells us about China's new strategy coming out of the country's Two Sessions.

Enjoy reading,

Giulia Carbonaro

Digital correspondent 

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German exports rose 1.4 percent on a monthly basis in January, led by strong demand from China. But trade between Germany and the UK have slumped significantly post Brexit, with a 29 percent drop in German exports to the UK in January this year compared with 2021, while imports from the UK to Germany fell by 56.2 percent.

Five thousand jobs are at risk in the UK and Australia as the steel conglomerate GFG Group seeks to refinance $4bn lost after Greensill Capital, the group's main lender, fell into administration.

The OECD expects the global economy to grow 5.6 percent this year, up 1.4 percentage points from its December forecast, mostly due to the U.S.'s new $1.9bn stimulus bill, which is expected to boost the global recovery.

Vodafone announced on Tuesday that its towers unit is set to be valued at up to $17.4 billion in the Frankfurt-based German stock market. The UK mobile giant plans to sell its shares in Vantage Tower around March 18, at a price ranging between $26.8 and $34.5 each.

UK banks face a potential conflict of interest over climate change as a study reveals that almost 80 percent of board members of the country's five biggest banking groups – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Standard Chartered – have links with high-polluting sectors.

Burger King UK was harshly criticized on social media for tweeting that "Women belong in the kitchen" on International Women's Day. The company claims the not-very-imaginative sexist trope was meant to highlight the lack of women chefs in the industry.

Rolls-Royce announced it has halted its planned sale of Norwegian engine maker Bergen Engines to the privately owned Russian company TMG group over national security concerns.

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Michele Geraci, former under secretary of state at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and well known for his expertise in Chinese economics, explains why China didn't set any targets in its five-year plan this year.

Why, for the first time, has China set no GDP target for its five-year plan?

I think in this moment, with the pandemic, it is very difficult to project a long-term growth target. They did stick to 2021, so the current year GDP forecast of 6 percent – which for us in Europe would be, of course, a dream. They leave themselves the flexibility to decide how and when to announce the GDP forecast for the remaining four years. 

Also, because, remember, linked to the GDP forecast is the carbon neutrality. And so because we always look at the ratio of emissions per unit of GDP in China at the moment, in this time of uncertainty, they want to keep the flexibility to handle those two items, CO2 and GDP, in a more independent way.

The other issue is that I think we should also try to, as much as we can, not attach too much importance to GDP per se, because China is going to have much lower GDP growth in the coming years, lower than the usual 6 or 7 percent. But it would be of a better quality. It's almost like when we look at company earnings, we also look at the value that companies make. Also, we look at the quality of earnings. And I think China is moving to have a lower GDP, but better quality. Spread better among the low-middle-income citizens, which represent a large proportion of the economy.

And we do know that when the income is evenly distributed, that in itself gives more long-term sustainability. So China, I think, has a very ambitious plan, but if they manage, they can have a lower GDP target but for a longer period of time.

And finally... The OECD has increased its global growth forecast. Here is how it sees the year unfolding for individual nations: