France's New PM Announces EUR 21 B Worth Spending Cuts

Manuel Valls, who became France's new Prime Minister in April, announced a series of austerity measures to reduce public spending.

He said some EUR 21 B would be saved in 2015 under a plan decreasing pensions, social benefits and healthcare expenditures.

France, the Eurozone's second-largest economy, has until 2017 to save a total of EUR 50 B in order to tackle its increasing budget deficit and public debt.

Valls, who replaced Jean-Marc Ayrault as Prime Minister following rulings socialists' defeat at local elections, was adamant that France would stick to its commitment to reduce deficit to 3% of GDP.

President Francois Hollande has long refrained from austerity and has tried to increase revenues by new taxation laws, but his actions have failed to deal with unemployment and economic stagnation.