PARIS, Dec 2 (Reuters) - France's Budget Minister Eric Woerth said he was in favour of writing German-style budget deficit targets into French law, in an interview to appear in the Thursday edition of national daily Les Echos.
Woerth had rejected the idea of a budget deficit cap in October as being unworkable in France, on the grounds that the French would never respect it.
But on Wednesday, Woerth told Les Echos: 'There has to be a strong political signal on reducing the public deficit.'
'I am favourable to having more restrictive rules, on the budget and on the level of public spending,' he said, adding this would take the form of a legally binding text.
France has a history of running large deficits and unveiled budget plans in October that forecast record shortfall and debt levels over the next five years.
The debt is forecast to rise to 91 percent of GDP in 2013 from 77.1 percent in 2009 and the budget shortfall is seen at 8.2 percent this year, rising to 8.5 percent in 2010.
Woerth's office said on Wednesday it would be possible to make cuts to an amount of 10 billion euro ($15.07 billion) within total public spending.
While Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, has long said it would bring its public deficit under the European Union limit of 3 percent of GDP by 2013, France had been reluctant to accept its target, saying 2014 would already be a good effort.
Germany has committed to balancing its budget by 2016 and a new 'debt brake' law will force the government to slash borrowing from 2011.
On Monday, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde told reporters in Berlin she backed a goal of reducing the French deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2013, although she said reaching the target depended on economic conditions.
($1=0.6635 Euro)
(Reporting by Jean-Baptiste Vey and Sophie Taylor) Keywords: FRANCE BUDGET/ (sophie.taylor@thomsonreuters.com; +33-1-4949-5219; Reuters Messaging: sophie.taylor.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Woerth had rejected the idea of a budget deficit cap in October as being unworkable in France, on the grounds that the French would never respect it.
But on Wednesday, Woerth told Les Echos: 'There has to be a strong political signal on reducing the public deficit.'
'I am favourable to having more restrictive rules, on the budget and on the level of public spending,' he said, adding this would take the form of a legally binding text.
France has a history of running large deficits and unveiled budget plans in October that forecast record shortfall and debt levels over the next five years.
The debt is forecast to rise to 91 percent of GDP in 2013 from 77.1 percent in 2009 and the budget shortfall is seen at 8.2 percent this year, rising to 8.5 percent in 2010.
Woerth's office said on Wednesday it would be possible to make cuts to an amount of 10 billion euro ($15.07 billion) within total public spending.
While Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, has long said it would bring its public deficit under the European Union limit of 3 percent of GDP by 2013, France had been reluctant to accept its target, saying 2014 would already be a good effort.
Germany has committed to balancing its budget by 2016 and a new 'debt brake' law will force the government to slash borrowing from 2011.
On Monday, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde told reporters in Berlin she backed a goal of reducing the French deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2013, although she said reaching the target depended on economic conditions.
($1=0.6635 Euro)
(Reporting by Jean-Baptiste Vey and Sophie Taylor) Keywords: FRANCE BUDGET/ (sophie.taylor@thomsonreuters.com; +33-1-4949-5219; Reuters Messaging: sophie.taylor.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.