French public deficit 'to exceed 3.7% target'

FinanceFinance Minister Pierre Moscovici confirmed Tuesday that France's public deficit will be higher than the target of 3.7 percent of gross domestic product, reports AFP.

"Yes, it will be higher than 3.7 percent" of gross domestic product (GDP), Moscovici said on RMC radio.

"We did not want to put in place an austerity plan in a situation of weak growth: in other words the public deficit will be a little higher than expected."

He noted that the European Commission had forecast a deficit of between 3.7 and 3.9 percent of GDP this year.

Read more of this report by AFP.