By Hajer M’tiri,

Paris: The French state’s annual budget deficit fell by 1.3 billion euros in 2017 compared to 2016 to reach 67.8 billion euros, its lowest level since 2008, the French Ministry of Public Accounts revealed on Tuesday.

The previous Socialist government had initially planned a budget deficit of 69.3 billion euros for 2017, but this objective had been revised upwards to 74.1 billion euros by the current government, due to unbudgeted expenses by the outgoing team.

This figure reflects “the respect of the commitments made by the government in terms of control of expenditure and deficit reduction,” said Minister of Public Accounts Gerald Darmanin in a statement.

The ministry explained the unexpected good news for Emmanuel Macron’s government was due to the strong value added sales tax and corporate tax as the economy picked up speed in the second half of the year, while government spending was kept in check.

In line with the rules set by the European treaties, the government has pledged to reduce the public deficit in 2017 to below 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), for the first time in 10 years.

—AA