France records 10-year-low budget gap in 2017

PARIS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- France lowered the 2017 budget gap below the European Union's safe line of 3 percent for the first time in 10 years, France's national statistics institute Insee said on Monday.

For the whole year of 2017, France saw its budget deficit at 59.3 billion euros (73.28 billion U.S. dollars), representing 2.6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in comparison with a previous forecast of 2.9 percent, Insee's figures showed.

The eurozone's second leading power recorded its best performance in a decade as it collected 4 percent more revenue thanks to 5.1-percent rise in taxes receipts which totalled 674.4 billion euros (836.79 billion dollars) over the period.

The 2017 public spending grew less faster than revenue. It increased by 2.5 percent compared to 1 percent in 2016, according to the report.

Last year, France reported a total of 2.21 trillion euros (2.74 trillion dollars) of debt, up by 65.9 billion euros (81.77 billion dollars)from 2016's data, Insee said.

The debt ratio to the GDP rose to 97 percent from 96.6 percent in 2016, Insee added.

"For the first time in a long time, France reached its target of deficit below 3 percent, excellent news due to our efforts to spend less and due to the revenues of the new economic momentum," tweeted French Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin. Enditem