(Reuters) – French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire reaffirmed on Thursday that he had no plans to raise taxes, even as the government faces pressure to reduce its deficit.
“We will not raise taxes,” Le Maire told BFM Business radio.
France, the euro zone’s second-biggest economy, currently plans to gradually reduce the deficit to less than 3% of GDP by 2027 after it hits a post-war record of 9.4% of gross domestic product this year.
France’s national public auditor said earlier this week that France should focus on gradually withdrawing COVID-19 crisis support measures for the economy this year and next, and only turn to cutting its budget deficit from 2023.
(Reporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
