French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said France's public sector budget deficit was expected to be worse than expected this year at 2.6 percent of economic output. Le Maire told reporters that growth slower than previously expected would push the deficit to 2.5% instead of the expected 2.3% so far.
Le Maire also added that the government's decision to take over public rail debt would add more pressure on the deficit, which would push it to 2.6 percent. "The aim of 2018 remains to respect the EU limits of 3 percent, but we will not get 2.3 percent," Le Maire said.
