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France's 2014 budget gap stands at 85.6 bln euros

Xinhua, January 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

France's budget gap stood at 85.6 billion euros (about 101 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014, down by 3.4 billion euros from a previous estimate, according to figures released by the Budget Ministry on Thursday.

Thanks to tough control of state expenditure, the French government's public spending reached 276.7 billion euros in 2014, down by 3.3 billion euros from the previous year.

A 2-billion-euro rise in tax receipts drove up the country's total revenue by 0.6 percent to 288.4 billion euros in 2014, the ministry added.

"Saving efforts in 2015 and the years after that will ensure healthy public finances and compensate a cut in taxes mentioned in the responsibility pact, in favor of growth, employment and households purchasing power," it noted.

The government expected 2014 budget gap to account for 4.4 percent of its GDP. Details on the final figures will be released in March 26, according to the statement.

Having been blamed for failing to promote growth, bringing down wide budget gap and trimming record high unemployment rate, French President Francois Hollande promised to put the country's finances in order by squeezing public spending to reach a deficit of 4.1 percent this year and to bring the gap in line with EU rules in 2017. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars) Endit