France's public deficit shrank to a better-than-expected 2.6pc of gross domestic product in 2017, the first time it has fallen below the European Union's three percent limit in a decade, the national statistics office said today. France's public deficit shrank to a better-than-expected 2.6pc of gross domestic product in 2017, the first time it has fallen below the European Union's three percent limit in a decade, the national statistics office said today. Read more: Beijing will defend its own trade interests, US warned The French tax burden rose to a record of 45.4pc of GDP product in 2017 from 44.6pc the year before. But on the domestic front, the better-than-expected deficit figures could represent a headache for the president. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has dismissed such calls, saying France's debt, which reached 97pc of GDP last year, was unsustainable.

Source: Irish Independent March 26, 2018 07:30 UTC