Impact of COVID-19 on the economies of Russia and France

Abstract

The global pandemic has significantly affected the global economic paradigm in general and individual economies in particular. The situation of uncertainty and the turning point in the fight against COVID-19 is still relatively far ahead, since vaccination, if actively carried out in a number of countries, addresses only a part of the population, mainly employees of the health and service sectors. Economic policy plays a special role in maintaining and ensuring the well-being of the population in the tough epidemiological conditions. The asymmetry of the impact of COVID-19 on different countries can be indagated by different economic (macroeconomic) indicators. For example, in Russia and France, the countries that are the subject of comparison in the study, gross domestic product showed a descending trend, but the rate of such decline was not the same. In turn, the state budget deficit, internal and external debt-all these indices showed growth, due to unforeseen and urgently needed expenditures to eliminate the ‘bottlenecks’ in the health sector, to provide the population with the necessary volume of goods to meet their needs. The article demonstrates as well that the introduction of lockdowns (or self-isolation) led to a change in consumer preferences, a kind of a shortage of the consumer demand in France. Interesting in its own way is the study of the dynamics of consumption of food, energy and industrial goods, outliers of indicators in 2020. The authors found that throughout 2020, there is a positive trade balance in the foreign trade of the Russian Federation, which is an optimistic trend even in the context of a total decline in foreign trade. Taking into account the presented analysis of the dynamics of macroeconomic indicators, the authors consider the current experience of France in combating the economic recession, in particular, programs to support citizens, business and entrepreneurship. The study highlights the role of France as a country that has encouraged the EU countries to coordinate the efforts of all the countries of the European Union in the field of public health, protection of citizens and mitigation of the socio-economic consequences of the epidemic.