France cuts 2015 budget deficit target after better-than-expected 2014

[PARIS] France cut its public deficit to 4.0 per cent of economic output last year from 4.1 per cent in 2013, INSEE statistics office data showed on Thursday.

The deficit was higher than initial targets in the 2014 budget but smaller than the government's latest 4.4 per cent forecast.

The better-than-expected data paves the way for a 2015 deficit of about 3.8 per cent of GDP, down from a previous target of 4.1 per cent of GDP, Finance Minister Michel Sapin said in a statement.

France's gross public debt rose last year to 95.0 per cent of gross domestic product from 92.3 in 2013.

REUTERS