France Cuts 2016 Growth Target

France lowered its economic growth target for 2016 to 1.4% from a previous estimate of 1.5%, a government statement said, Xinhua reported. France, one of Europe’s leading powerhouses, will miss this year’s growth goal because of dim economic performance during the second and third quarters which were overshadowed by rolling strikers against labor reform, terrorist attacks and poor harvests, the finance ministry said. Despite a lower growth projection, the French government stuck to the deficit target set at 3.3% of gross domestic product in 2016. Looking ahead, the government held pledges to accelerate economic growth by 1.5% in 2017 and lower the budget gap by 0.6 percentage point to 2.7% of GDP.