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).

© 1999-2024 Forex EuroClub
All rights reserved