Paris - The French government is prepared to admit officially that in 2009 the country will go through its worst recession since the end of the Second World War, the daily Le Figaro reported on Monday.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who had earlier minimized the effect of the global economic crisis on France, will on Wednesday report to the cabinet that France's GDP will contract by 1.5 per cent this year.

The French government's previous official forecast for 2009 predicted GDP growth of 0.2 to 0.5 per cent.

French GDP fell by 1.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008, and is expected to slide officially into recession in the first quarter of this year, which "will also be very bad," an adviser of Lagarde's was quoted as saying.

On Sunday, a government official told French radio that an additional 300,000 jobs will be lost by the end of 2009, added to the more than 90,000 job losses recorded in January. (dpa)