Valls orders 18 billion euros cuts in 2015-2017
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has told ministries to make 18 billion euros of cuts in spending over three years in a letter outlining their budgets for 2015.
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Only three sectors are spared of cuts - education, police and justice.
The rest will see their spending power reduced by 15 per cent between 2015 and 2017.
This applies to ministries as well as state administrations, which will receive six per cent less in state subsidies over the same three years.
These cuts are all part of France’s 50-billion-euro deficit reduction plan, of which 18 billion comes from government spending.
The cuts are also to fund increases in the number of people working in the national education system, the police and the justice ministry
The right-wing opposition UMP has accused Valls and the government of intending to cut two billion from the defense budget, which is laid out in a five-year military spending play that was passed in December.
Valls said this week there was no hidden agenda but he also added that everyone must participate in reducing the deficit.
Tuesday’s edition of business daily Les Echos claims that the finance ministry is planning to reduce the amount of money given to the defence ministry by 2.3 billion euros before 2017, citing several government sources.
Valls on Sunday promised to ensure that 650,000 people on low pay will not be subject income tax this year.
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