French finance minister says deficit reduction was top priority before Moody's warning
Adds comments on budget, trade in paragraphs 4-9
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) -French Finance Minister Antoine Armand on Friday, following a Moody's credit rating warning on his country's debt, said that France's top fiscal priority is to reduce its public deficit to a targeted 5% of GDPby 2025.
Moody's late on Friday revised France's outlook to "negative" from "stable," citing mounting uncertainty that the country will be able to curbwidening budget deficits.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the InternationalMonetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, Armand said: "We noted the prospect of the negative outlook. We didn't wait for the negative outlook to take the necessary measures" to control debt.
Armand said that France needed to foster growth as part of its drive to rebalance deficits and finance investments needed for the country's clean energy transition.
"France's top priority is to reduce its debt and its budget deficit, and the target would have a 5% target by 2025, referring to a budget plan unveiled earlier this month.
"It is not just a financial target. It's also a political target, because it's the beginning of the public finance consolidation that we aim at in France," he said.
Armand declined to comment on the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election when asked about the potential for high U.S. tariffs on European goods if Republicancandidate Donald Trump is elected president.
But Armand said that France, the U.S. and other countries need to coordinate their policies opposing non-market trade policies such as those of China, adding that France shares U.S. concerns.
"At the very least, we need to coordinate answers against non-market practices, because if we don't coordinate the answers to the non-market practices at the end of the day, it will create more disorder and more imbalances," he said.
Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Leslie Adler and Paul Simao
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
