PARIS--The French government Wednesday presented a 2015 budget
aimed at striking a delicate balance: shoring up France's finances
without tipping an economy heavily reliant on public spending into
recession.
Finance Minister Michel Sapin detailed 21 billion euros ($26.5
billion) worth of measures to curb spending, affecting areas from
welfare benefits to local authority budgets and the number of civil
servants.
The cuts to the budget are the largest President François
Hollande has attempted since coming to power in May 2012. Yet they
don't go far enough to bring the budget deficit down as much as the
government promised at the start of this year. Paris officials
argue that deeper cuts would hurt economic growth too much, which
would in turn undermine the budget.
"We are committed to being serious about the budget, but we
refuse austerity," Mr. Sapin said at a news conference at the
finance ministry.
The deficit will fall only slightly to 4.3% of economic output
next year from 4.4% this year.
As the government struggles to bring down the budget deficit,
debt will continue rising to peak at 98% of annual economic output
in 2016.
Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@wsj.com
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