PARIS: France will need to raise 178 billion euros ($232 billion) in medium and long-term bonds next year, slightly less than this year, the French treasury announced on Tuesday.
In the course of 2012, the French state will have to meet a budget deficit of 78.7 billion euros and repay 97.9 billion in debt, it said.
The treasury's bond-issuing authority, AMF, said it could adjust its programme to take inot account the government'd spedning requirements and maintain liquidity on the market.
Paris still benefiots from relatively generous interest rates on its debt compared to, for example, Italy, but Europe's soverign debt crisis is spreading and France is seen as next in line.
Ratings agencies have threatened to strip France of its triple-A debt rating, although the market appears to have already priced that into its calculations when setting interest rates.
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