French economy given a lift by Olympics, says Visa

PARIS (Reuters) - The Paris Olympics is giving a much-needed lift to the French economy thanks to increased consumer spending, according to a report from U.S bank card and financial transactions firm Visa.

France, the euro zone's second-biggest economy, is banking on the Games to shore up its meagre growth, with its statistics office predicting a 0.3 percentage point boost from ticket and TV rights sales and more tourism.

Visa said its data showed that small businesses in Paris reported a 26% rise in sales to Visa cardholders during the first weekend of the Olympic Games compared with a year earlier.

"Our latest data shows a significant increase in consumer spending among Visa cardholders during the opening ceremony weekend," said Visa Europe CEO Charlotte Hogg.

Visa, which is one of the corporate sponsors for the Olympics, said its U.S. cardholders accounted for the biggest slice of foreign Olympics-related spending, with their spending 29% higher than a year earlier.

The Olympics had also resulted in big increases in spending from Brazilian and Japanese Visa cardholders, it said in a report first released late on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)