PARIS (Reuters) – France’s large state deficit represents a “black mark” over the French economy, the country’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire told France Inter radio on Tuesday.
France reported on Tuesday a negative trade balance of 84.7 billion euros ($96.6 billion) for 2021, versus 64.7 billion a year earlier.
Le Maire added it was urgent to rebalance and improve the position of France’s public finances, with President Emmanuel Macron set to face a national election in April.
Last month, France posted its strongest growth in over five decades last year, hitting 7% as the euro zone’s second-biggest economy bounced back from the COVID-19 crisis faster than expected.
Despite a resurgence of the COVID virus in France, the strongest boom in a generation has bolstered Macron’s economic credentials less than three months from an April election in which he is widely expected to run for a second term.
($1 = 0.8771 euros)
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
