French premier says growth target attainable

posted: 6 DAYS 22 HOURS AGO

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PARIS -France's prime minister on Wednesday defended the government's deficit reduction plan, saying the steep acceleration in economic growth needed to achieve it was a realistic target.

Speaking on French radio station Europe-1, Francois Fillon called the government's forecast of an annual economic growth rate of 2.5 percent from 2011 to 2013 "perfectly attainable."

This year the government targets growth of 1.4 percent, rebounding from a 2.3 percent drop in 2009.

Last week, France submitted a deficit reduction plan to the European Commission that commits it to bringing public deficit down to 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2013, from a forecast 8.2 percent this year.

"We have committed to achieve these results if we have 2.5 percent growth," Fillon said. "If growth is a little weaker, it will take us a bit longer to reduce the deficit."

Fillon said that the global economic recovery, the government's industrial policy and tax reforms under way made France's growth target achievable.

2010-02-03 05:21:05