IANS | 25 Jan, 2012
France registered a budget gap of 90.8 billion euros ($118.22 billion) in 2011, down by 4.6 billion euros from the previous year, Budget Minister Valerie Pecresse said Tuesday.

"These very good results will help to improve the gross domestic product by more than 0.2 points percentage," Pecresse told the National Assembly's finance committee.

"I'm already certain that the public deficit will be substantially below the target of 5.7 percent of GDP and probably even less than 5.5 percent," the minister added.

Already under pressure to be in line with the European safe standard of budget gap, the French government has presented a series of austerity measures, including accelerated pension reform, higher taxes and intensified fight against tax loopholes, in hope to reap extra 12 billions of euros when the growth remains scarce of momentum, reported Xinhua.

Paris is planning to reduce its deficit to GDP ratio to 3 percent by 2013 from an expected 4.5 percent this year.