French public deficit edges higher by end-2014

[PARIS] France's public deficit rose to 85.6 billion euros by end-December 2014 from 74.9 billion euros a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.

Excluding investments, the deficit stood at 73.6 billion euros - an improvement of 1.3 billion euros over the same period which the ministry said was due to a cut in state spending of some 10 billion euros.

It noted that the result was an improvement on the forecast of an end-of-year deficit of 87 billion euros (US$99.68 billion) on which the budget for this year is based.

REUTERS