France passes budget that taxes business more

[August 01, 2012]  PARIS (AP) -- France's lower house of parliament has passed a budget amendment to raise a slew of new taxes on businesses and the wealthy while barely cutting spending.

The National Assembly approved the bill and sent it to the Senate for its own vote later Tuesday.

The law revises the 2012 budget after economic growth fell short of projections, and sets the tone for President Francois Hollande's Socialist administration. It rolls back several measures the previous, conservative government passed to shake up a hidebound labor market. It eliminates a tax break on overtime pay, for example.

The government has promised the 2013 budget will include spending cuts, but economists worry the new leaders don't understood how urgently France needs to reduce costs. Ballooning debt has forced other European countries to seek bailouts.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.