By William Horobin
PARIS--French President Francois Hollande's proposals to cut
spending and taxes on labor can stimulate growth and create jobs if
they are implemented quickly, the governor of the Bank of France
said Thursday.
"The pact proposed by the President is exactly the kind of thing
we need to whip up growth," Christian Noyer, who also sits on the
governing council of the ECB, said on French radio Europe 1.
Mr. Hollande detailed his pact at a marathon press conference on
Tuesday. He pledged to cut red tape for companies and relieve them
of EUR30 billion to EUR35 billion ($40 billion - $47 billion) of
family welfare taxes. The measures--which still need to fleshed out
with unions and business--would be funded solely by spending cuts,
rather than tax increases, Mr. Hollande said.
The governor of France's central bank said that cutting the cost
of labor will "certainly" create or save up to 1 million jobs, but
the government must move fast.
"It needs to be done quickly - we must not baulk and we must be
audacious," Mr. Noyer said.
The central banker also said the European Central Bank is ready
to take extra measures to fight the crisis and support growth.
"We have always done that over the last few years. We've been
very audacious and if it is needed we would take extra measures.
There is no doubt about that," Mr. Noyer said.
Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@wsj.com