Keyword: déficit

After better-than-expected deficit data for 2014, France's finance minister Michel Sapin said there were reasons to be confident about growth.

In a third reprieve obtained by Paris, the European Commission has allowed France until 2017 to bring its public deficit to under 3% of GDP.

Officials fear leaving Paris unpunished for persistently failing to curb its budget deficit may make it harder for euro to weather a future crisis.

Finance minister Michel Sapin says targets are 'demanding' but realistic as France faces having to find additional savings by 2017.

EU officials are to grant an extra two years to French government, who now have until 2017 to bring deficit down to under 3% of GDP.

German business newspaper reports that Paris has asked for another extension on its deadline to bring budget deficit below 3% of GDP.

Since 1999, France has a more impressive record on economic growth, productivity and financial sector stability than many eurozone peers.

Wolfgang Schäuble said European budget rules should not be softened for France which had twice failed to meet deficit deadlines.

Commission says reform programme unveiled by President François Hollande in January had 'insufficient' detail to match its ambitions.

But French finance minister Michel Sapin insisted in a statement that Paris would meet the 3 percent target in 2015.

French finance minister Michel Sapin said there was a 'thin line' between budgetary rigour and an economically choking excess of austerity.

The latest European Commission economic forecasts say the French government deficit will hit 4.1 percent this year, 3.8 percent next year.

Finance minister Pierre Moscovici said 2013 public deficit will come in at 4.1 percent of GDP, higher than the 3.9 percent agreed with EU.

French finance minister Pierre Moscovici has confirmed that the 'public deficit will be a little higher than expected'.