French BudgetMin: France official 2017 GDP forecast remains at 1.7%

Comments crossed the wires from the French Budget Minister Darmanin, delivered in an interview with Les Echos.

Key Points:

France official 2017 GDP forecast remains at 1.7%.

Department being cautious, could have raised it to 1.8%.

All is done for the budget deficit to be brought back below 3% threshold at 2.9%.

Expects higher VAT revenue for 2017, additional EUR 1bln.

Planned exceptional tax on large companies is the lesser evil to help balance the budget, rather than higher taxes generally.