From $1 billion in damages to tourist cancellations, how riots have hurt France's economy

From $1 billion in damages to tourist cancellations, how riots have hurt France'The death of 17-year-old Nael has sparked days of riots in France.

More than 150 vehicles had been set ablaze, and hundreds of fires started in rubbish bins or other public areas.

Police mobilisation had been kept at the same level as the two previous nights, at 45,000 across France.

Mayors across France held rallies Monday calling for an end to the violent clashes.

But what has been the cost of the riots to France?

Let’s take a closer look:

‘Destroyed everything’

French business group MEDEF chief Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux told CNN rioters have already caused more than a billion dollars in damage.

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A group spokesperson added that 200 stores have been looted, 300 bank branches and 250 smaller corner shops destroyed.

French businesses have been left counting the cost.

Manchon who works in a tobacconist's in the southern city of Marseille which has seen some of the worst looting.

"None of this is our doing, we are just working people who get up at five in the morning so we can feed our children and families," he told AFP.

Employers' organisations have called on the government to create an emergency fund "for those who lost everything".

CNN affiliate BFMTV reported that the French government is examining aiding businesses by either nixing or putting off having to pay into social security and taxes.

The outlet quoted finance minister Bruno Le Maire as saying businesses would have 30 days rather than the usual five to file an insurance claim.

Youths gather on Concorde square during a protest in Paris against the killing of the 17-year-old driver. AP

“If your store has been burned to the ground and a life’s work has been reduced to ashes, the state must be by your side,” Le Maire was quoted as saying by Fortune. “We’ll do everything necessary so that economic activity can calmly pick up again in our country as quickly as possible.”

But CNN quoted credit agency DBRS Morningstar as saying the claims filed are likely to be short of the billion-dollar mark.

“We believe total insured losses for the French insurance industry should remain well below the €1 billion mark,” DBRS Morningstar noted.

“Business interruption losses resulting from vandalism, looting and potential curfews are unlikely to be covered by the French state,” the agency added.

‘Hurt image of France’

Macron on Tuesday met with hundreds of French officials to begin exploring the "deeper reasons" for the country's plunge into riots after the killing of a teenager at a traffic stop.

Macron told a meeting of mayors on Tuesday that the "peak" of rioting had passed but he remained cautious about calling an end to the violence.

"Is it a permanent return to calm? I will be cautious, but the peak that we've seen in previous days has passed," Macron said, according to TV pictures of his speech which was confirmed to AFP by a participant at the meeting.

"We all want a lasting, republican order," he said. "That's the absolute priority."

But experts say the riots have already hurt tourism.

“It’s always difficult to say if the impact will be long-lasting, but there will certainly be a drop in reservations this summer, although the season had seemed promising. Many have already been cancelled.”

Roux de Bézieux, citing data from the Paris tourist information deck, told the website Euractiv.com around 20-25 per cent of all reservations will likely be cancelled.

The riots have cost 20 million euros in damage to public transport in the Paris region, the regional operator said Monday.

This includes “burned buses, a torched tramway, two damaged tramways and urban infrastructure which was smashed,” the authority for the Ile-de-France regional transport network said in a statement to AFP.

Firefighters use a water hose on a burnt bus in Nanterre, outside Paris, France. AP

Police meanwhile said it questioned one of the passengers in the car driven by Nael who had turned himself in, to find out more about the exact circumstances of the shooting.

The policeman who fired the lethal shot remained in custody Tuesday, charged with homicide.

An online collection for the family of the 38-year-old, launched by far-right figure Jean Messiha, has gathered more than 1.4 million euros ($1.5 million), sparking outrage among the political left.

"It pays to kill a young Arab," tweeted Manon Aubry, a European Parliament deputy for the hard-left LFI party.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne also expressed her unease with the initiative, saying it did not "contribute to calming the situation".

A fund to support the family of Nahel has run to just under 346,000 euros.

With inputs from agencies

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