France Beats EU Deficit, Growth Targets In Win For Macron

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2018 ) :France on Monday reported a budget deficit equivalent to 2.6 percent of the economy in 2017, below the EU limit of 3.0 percent for the first time in a decade.

The INSEE national statistics agency also reported 2.0 percent growth in 2017, France's highest in six years. The deficit figure, which beat expectations of 2.

9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), is a fresh sign the eurozone's second-biggest economy is experiencing a rebound under President Emmanuel Macron.

In 2016, the deficit stood at 3.4 percent of GDP. The 2017 figure was the first to come below the European limit since 2007 -- the year the global financial crisis erupted. France, long a laggard in Europe, has come under strong pressure to do more to reduce its budget deficit and debt, which are still among the highest in the eurozone.