Finance Minister says France to cut deficit at appropriate rateOctober 20, 2014 - 11:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - French Finance Minister Michel Sapin reaffirmed ahead of a meeting in Berlin with his German counterpart on Monday, Oct 20, that France would cut its deficit at a rate appropriate to maintaining a fragile recovery, Reuters reported. "We must not go all out for deficit reduction, we have to slow it down because we must be in harmony with the needs of the French economy - we must moreover support growth," he told France Info radio. Sapin reiterated a long-held French view that Germany should lead an effort to boost investment in the eurozone and promised that France would continue to pursue structural reforms. "We are not going to do a deal along the lines of 'you give me that, and I'll give you this' - it's about what is right for each of us and what is right for Europe," he said of the talks later with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. France confirmed last month it would break a promise to bring its deficit below an EU-mandated ceiling of three percent of output next year. The European Commission is due to decide by the end of this month whether to reject its 2015 budget in what would be an embarrassment for the core EU member. Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, who will accompany Sapin on the trip, said at the weekend he was "totally sure" that the EU executive would ultimately not take that step and voiced hopes that Germany and France would see eye to eye on how to boost eurozone recovery. France expects growth of just 0.4 percent this year, rising to 1.0 percent in 2015. Photo: Reuters Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Armenia, Turkey discuss restoration of historic bridge The meeting took place on May 17 in Ashgabat on the sidelines of an international conference of ministers of culture. EU welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan “progress” The EU has welcomed “progress” made in the framework of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation process. Belarus opposition leader slams Lukashenko for Karabakh trip Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has harshly criticized the visit of Lukashenko to Karabakh. Mkhitaryan raises arrest of former Karabakh leaders in Azerbaijan Inter Milan star Henrikh Mkhitaryan has shared a news story about the extension of the arrest of former Karabakh leaders. |