France to revise budget within days, amid slump

[January 30, 2012]  PARIS (AP) -- France's finance minister says the government will revise this year's budget in the coming days to take into account lower-than-expected growth.

Finance Minister Francois Baroin says "there's a slowdown that's been observed for the last three or four months" and the budget will be adjusted accordingly.

France is the eurozone's second-largest economy after Germany and its lagging economy could weigh on efforts to bail out weaker eurozone countries.

Baroin said on France-Info radio Monday the Cabinet would take up a revised budget within the next 10 days. The current 2012 budget foresees growth at 1 percent.

The updated budget is also expected to include higher consumption taxes and other measures announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy to cut debts and boost growth.

[Associated Press]

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