French govt to cut 2016 inflation forecast to 0.1%: Les Echos

[PARIS] The French Finance Ministry plans to cut its inflation forecast for this year from one per cent to 0.1 per cent, and will present the new figure at the next cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Les Echos newspaper reported on Wednesday.

As a result, France will have to find 3.8 billion euros (S$5.83 billion) of additional savings this year and a further 5 billion next year, Les Echos said in a preview of its Thursday edition, without saying where it had obtained the information.

Finance minister Michel Sapin had said in February France's inflation target for 2016, as foreseen in the last budget bill, would have to be cut down sharply because of the drop in global oil prices.

The finance ministry did not immediately return a request for comment.

REUTERS