France to miss 2013 deficit target: PM

PARIS - French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Wednesday said the government will miss the objective of trimming public deficit to 3 percent of the national output in 2013.

Speaking to the state-run TV channel France 3, Ayrault admitted that France's gap "will not be exactly at 3 percent."

Despite the Socialists' effort to squeeze spending by 38 billion euros (51 billion U.S. dollars) to fulfill promises of deficit-cutting and growth recovery, a continued ailing economy was likely to throw a spanner into their plans to put France's finances in order, the country's audit office La Cour des Comptes said on Tuesday.