Richard Ferrand said the deficit was likely to hit 3.4 per cent as a result of a series of measures announced by Emmanuel Macron GETTY IMAGESFrance’s budget deficit is likely to overshoot the European Union’s limit of 3 per cent of GDP next year, the president of the country’s national assembly has said. Richard Ferrand said that the deficit was likely to hit 3.4 per cent as a result of a series of measures announced by President Macron in the face of recent protests. France is expected to break the deficit ceiling after Mr Macron made concessions to anti-government protesters this month, blowing a €10 billion hole in the budget. “We take the responsibility of having a higher-than-expected deficit, probably at 3.4 per cent of gross national product. But it will be a cyclical peak, not a structural trajectory,” Mr Ferrand told Le Journal du Dimanche.

Source: The Times December 17, 2018 00:09 UTC