French government defends ‘serious’ pre-election budget

PARIS, Sept 28, (AFP): The French government defended its 2017 budget on Wednesday, seven months ahead of the presidential election, after a top watchdog said it doubted it could hit its fiscal targets.

France, which has repeatedly broken the European Union’s fiscal rules, is targeting a deficit of 2.7 percent of GDP for 2017, the lowest in a decade and under the EU’s limit of 3.0 percent.

“This budget is serious,” Finance Minister Michel Sapin said.

Presenting a package of measures which contains few pre-election giveaways, Sapin blasted the right-wing candidates for the presidency who have promised tax cuts as “irresponsible”.

“The candidates for the presidential election, or the (right-wing) primary before that, who promise immediate tax cuts and say the control of public expenditure can be postponed until tomorrow, are irresponsible,” Sapin said. An independent watchdog, the High Council of Public Finances (HCFP) said this week it doubted that France could hit the 2.7 percent deficit target.

“Based on the information we have, (the HCFP) considers as uncertain that the nominal deficit will be brought to less than 3.0 percent of GDP in 2017,” it said.

President Francois Hollande said Wednesday the target was “credible and serious”, the government’s spokesman said.

To the annoyance of its EU partners, France has delayed bringing its deficit back below the 3.0 percent limit on a number of occasions in recent years under both Socialist and centre-right governments.