French finance minister Michel Sapin said the French government can find €2 billion ($2.2 billion) worth of savings in 2016 to pay for tax cuts for households without sacrificing its commitment to reduce the budget deficit, reports The Wall Street Journal.
“You can trust us, we have the means, given the huge amounts spent by the state, the town councils and the social security, to find €2 billion to give back to the poorest French families for the sacrifices they made,” Mr. Sapin said in an interview with radio station France Info on Monday.
The exact amount of cuts, first announced by earlier this month by President François Hollande, hasn’t been yet decided, he said.
The tax cuts will partially reverse tax increases introduced after Mr. Hollande’s Socialist-led government came to power in 2012.
The minister added the government will stick to its budget deficit target next year even after the tax cuts.