- Michel Sapin, France's Finance Minister
France's Finance Minister Michel Sapin said the country's budget deficit will reach the EU target of 3% only after 2017, as in 2015 the deficit is expected to be 4.3% in 2015. This statement came in contrast to what former President Nicolas Sarkozy promised in the first half of 2011, as he pledged that France would reduce its budget deficit to 3% of GDP in 2013. The government also revised downwards its growth forecast to 0.4% from 1% for this year and to 1% from 1.7% for 2015. Taxes in France have increased by more than 60 euros billion in three years since the current President Francois Holland stepped in. Taxation now accounts for about 46% of GDP. The government plans to cut 50 billion euros from spending by 2017, including a reduction of 21 billion euros in 2015.
The number of employed people in the Euro zone's second largest economy rose 0.1% in the second quarter of 2014 following the 0.1% decline in the March quarter, according to the report from France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. Moreover, wages in France increased 0.4% in the second quarter, easing from the 0.6% rise seen in the previous quarter and in line with analysts' expectations. Also, industrial production rose 0.2% in July, beating economists forecasts' for a 0.5% drop. Manufacturing production, however, lost 0.3% in July, following a increase of 1.6% registered in June.
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