PARIS, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- France's public debt hit a record high in the third quarter following a series of governmental stimulus measures, the official statistics bureau INSEE said Wednesday.

    The public debt reached 1.46 trillion euros (2.1 trillion U.S. dollars) after a 29.4-billion-euro (about 42.28 billion dollars) increase during the July-September period.

    It accounted for 75.8 percent of the country's domestic gross product (GDP).

    INSEE predicted the public debt would continue to rise, and could amount to 77.9 percent of the GDP in the fourth quarter as the government maintains extra spending in a bid to deal with the economic crisis.

    Massive governmental spending contributed much to France's leading recovery from the crisis in the second quarter. But the heavy debt was also likely to slow the country's long-term development.

    Local media reported that President Nicolas Sarkozy would summon a national conference in January to seek ways to cut the deficit and public debt.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis