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ShareParis: France needs legislation to get its public deficit under control that is not too strict or the French will have trouble sticking to it, budget minister Eric Woerth said on Sunday.
Neighbouring Germany has introduced a law limiting new annual borrowing by the federal government to 0.35% of gross domestic product from 2016.
Woerth previously had dismissed the idea of such a law but he said on Sunday that his views on the subject had changed.
"My position has shifted a bit," he said on Radio RCJ. "We surely need a rule on the public deficit. The Germans have got themselves one. I simply say that it must be credible, it must be adapted to the French situation."
France has a history of running up large deficits. Itunveiled budget plans earlier this year that forecast record shortfall and debt levels over the next five years.
It said its debt would climb to 91 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 from 77.1% this year. France also expects a 2009 budget shortfall of 8.2% of GDP, rising to 8.5% in 2010.
"There is no point jumping up and down on your chair like a kid and saying it's magnificent and at the same time doing your best not to stick to it because it's unrealistic," Woerth said.
"I know France too often puts rules in place and then does its best not to stick to them ... but when you have a public deficit of 8 or 8.5%, you have to ask the question."
The public deficit comes from the state, social security and local authority budgets.
European Union rules say it should be under 3% of GDP but the financial crisis and slowing economy have cut into government receipts at the same time as they have pumped money into the economy making it even harder to meet this goal.
Last month, France said it would rein in the deficit a year faster than previously stated, cutting it to 3% by 2013, depending on economic conditions.
