German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said Friday that he opposes giving France more time to reduce its budget deficit, saying it won't help to overcome the crisis of confidence currently pressuring its economy, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Schäuble said on Deutschlandfunk radio that European budget rules shouldn't be softened for France.
"Time in itself doesn't create confidence," said Mr. Schäuble.
He said France's plan to ease the cost burden for its businesses while reducing the deficit puts it on the right track to solve its problems.
"This is only possible via savings," Mr. Schäuble said. "We support this and hope that France will be successful."
The French government aims to bring its budget deficit below 3% of gross domestic product next year after overshooting the threshold with a 4.3% deficit last year. It forecasts a deficit of 3.8% this year, but this now looks ambitious since French economic growth ground to a halt in the first quarter after only growing 0.4% last year.
Asked about the European Commission's next commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Mr. Schäuble said he doesn't object personally to his former French counterpart, Pierre Moscovici, getting the post.
But he questioned whether appointing a Frenchman to this important position would send the right signal, given that the deadline for France to bring its budget deficit to below 3% of GDP has been extended twice. Mr. Schäuble expressed similar reservations during a speech last week in Freiburg.
Read more of this report from The Wall Street Journal.