(Adds CEO comments from analyst call)
PARIS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - French retail giant Carrefour on Wednesday said it expected sales growth of 6.5 percent in 2008 at constant exchange rates, down from a previous target of around 7 percent.
The board of directors of the world's second-largest retailer met to review the action plan implemented over the last two months, and said its new sales target was "broadly in line" with its earlier objective.
Carrefour said it would continue its "aggressive promotional policy" given the deteriorating global consumption trends it had seen over the last weeks, particularly in Europe.
CEO Jose Luis Duran told an analyst call that he expected the group to post sales growth of around 3 percent in the fourth quarter.
He added that he had not yet seen any short-term positive impact from changes in inflation rates and oil prices, but that he expected to see a positive effect in the medium- to longer-term.
Duran said that he had noted a "certain slowdown" in non-food sales in China, where the group generated sales of 2.96 billion euros in 2007, out of global sales of 92.272 billion euros, but that food sales were still "pretty positive".
The group said in a statement that it expected to meet its target of 1.5 billion euros of operational free cash flow, compared with 2007's level of 691 million euros.
The board was meeting for the last time in the presence of Duran, who is due to be replaced as chief executive by the former marketing head of Switzerland's Nestle, Lars Olofsson. (Reporting by Helen Massy-Beresford; editing by Richard Hubbard and Simon Jessop)