France minister terms 'yellow vest' protests an economic catastrophe

The "yellow vest" protests have been "a catastrophe" for the French economy, the finance minister says.

France has seen four consecutive weekends of demonstrations against fuel tax rises, high living costs, and other issues, reports BBC.

About 125,000 protesters took to the streets on Saturday, with more than 1,700 people arrested.

Several tourist sites, including the Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum, are closed this weekend.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called the situation "a crisis" for both society and democracy.

"It's a catastrophe for commerce, it's a catastrophe for our economy," he said during a visit to shops in Paris that had been damaged during the protests.

The capital was particularly badly hit, with windows smashed, cars burned, and shops looted, as 10,000 people took part in demonstrations.

"There was much more damage yesterday than a week ago" because Saturday's protests were more dispersed, deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire told local radio.

However, he added that there had been fewer injuries compared with last week.

President Emmanuel Macron - who many protesters want to stand down - will address the nation in the coming days.

It is too early to calculate the full economic cost - but it's clear the damage is severe.

On Friday, the French retail federation said that retailers had lost about 1bn euros ($1.1bn; £900m) since the protests first began on November 17.

Mr Le Maire said last week, before the most recent protests, that the restaurant trade had declined by between 20 per cent and 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, the authorities in Paris say that riots have caused millions of pounds' worth of damage.

The movement began as a protest against a rise in duties on diesel, which is widely used by French motorists and has long been less heavily taxed than other types of fuel.

Diesel prices have risen by about 23 per cent over the past 12 months - and Mr Macron's decision to impose a tax increase of 6.5 cents on diesel and 2.9 cents on petrol from January 01 enraged protesters.

Mr Macron had blamed world oil prices for three-quarters of the price rise, but said higher taxes on fossil fuels were needed to fund renewable energy investments.