A view of the shut down Louvre Museum on April 05, 2020 in Paris, France. Pierre Suu/Getty Images

France is heading for the worst economic downturn since World War II, the country’s Minister of the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire says.

In a Senate hearing today, he said the economy’s worst year since the war was during the 2009 financial crisis when it contracted by 2.9 percent.

“We are likely to be well beyond -2.9% this year,” Le Maire said.

He had previously warned that the economic shock from the coronavirus pandemic would be brutal.