France's 2006 budget deficit was 39 billion euros, compared with 46.9 billion euros forecast by the budget law, partly due to higher-than-expected corporate tax receipts, updated Budget Ministry data showed on Wednesday.
This shortfall includes a one-off hit of about 3.3 billion euros due to a change in the way pension liabilities were accounted and was revised down slightly from the previously reported figure of 39.4 billion euros. The deficit was 35.7 billion euros excluding such accounting changes, a figure that was also slightly revised down from the 36.2 billion euros reported earlier this year.
The shortfall of 35.7 billion euros marked a reduction of 7.8 billion euros from the 2005 budget deficit, according to the ministry. The update to the 2006 budget data comes at a time when Paris is under pressure from its European Union partners to respect its pledge to cut its deficit and explain how it intends to finance planned tax breaks.
The budget ministry data did not include any estimate of the 2006 deficit as a proportion of gross domestic product. The last official update had put it at 2.5 percent of GDP. The ministry noted healthy corporate receipts, which came in 10.2 billion euros higher than forecast, and said they had been fully earmarked for cutting the deficit.
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