9 January 2001, 12:29 French Nov budget gap 232.7 bln Ffr vs 226.1 bln Nov 1999
By BridgeNews
Paris--Jan. 9--The government's decision to extend the deadline for
the payment of local housing taxes caused the French budget deficit to
widen to 232.7 billion francs (35.5 billion euros) at the end of November
from 226.1 billion francs (34.5 billion euros) for the same period in
1999, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
* * *
Instead of the housing tax receipts being taken into account in
November as was the case in 1999, the payment deadline was extended to
Dec. 15, 2000.
General budget net receipts were 1.3473 trillion francs (205.4 billion
euros) over the first 11 months of 2000, up 1.3% on the year. This annual
rate of increase was lower than the 1.8% rise in October and 3.3% gain in
September, due to the introduction of certain tax cutting measures at the
end of last year.
Net fiscal receipts between January and February rose 1.5% compared
with the same period last year. Non-fiscal receipts rose an annual 14.2%
by the end of November compared with an 11.2% increase by the end of
October due mainly to differences in the number of working days.
General budget spending was 1.5315 trillion francs (233.5 billion
euros) in the January-November period, a rise of 0.5% compared with the
same period in 1999.
The ministry said the rate of expenditure should fall markedly in Dec.
2000 figures. Debt payment charges were 4% higher in November than in Nov.
1999, though this was lower than the 5.9% increase in Oct. 2000. This
deceleration is expected to have continued in Dec. 2000.
The Treasury's special accounts deficit stood at 48.5 billion francs
(7.4 billion euros) at the end of Nov. 2000 compared with 32.5 billion
francs (5.0 billion euros) at the end of Nov. 1999. The Finance Ministry
said that over the first 11 months of this year, income tax receipts rose
by an annual 5.9%, after an annual 6.4% rise by the end of October. Net
corporate tax receipts rose by an annual 16.2% in the January-November
period while receipts from tax on oil products fell an annual 0.9%. Value
Added Yax (VAT) income was 2.0% higher at the end of November compared
with the same period of 1999.
The government's revised budget deficit target for 2000 is 209.5
billion francs (31.9 billion euros).
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