PARIS French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday he was sticking for now with the government's forecast of 1% economic growth for 2023.

"I confirm the growth forecast for 2023," Le Maire told France 2 television.

"I am lucid about the economic environment with several of our neighbours in recession...so we will keep on monitoring the situation closely," he added.

Pointing out that the government would present a public finances bill at end-September, he said: "We will see then what is our forecast."

French statistic institute INSEE said earlier this month that the euro zone's second biggest economy is projected to expand by 0.1% in the third quarter and 0.2% in the fourth, making for an annual GDP figure of 0.6%.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)