PARIS, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- France lowered its economic growth target for 2016 to 1.4 percent from a previous estimate of 1.5 percent, a government statement said on Friday.
France, one of Europe's leading powerhouses, will miss this year's growth goal because of dim economic performance during the second and third quarters which were overshadowed by rolling strikers against labor reform, terrorist attacks and poor harvests, the finance ministry said.
Despite a lower growth projection, French government stuck to deficit target set at 3.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016.
Looking ahead, the government held pledges to accelerate economic growth by 1.5 percent in 2017 and to lower the budget gap by 0.6 percentage point to 2.7 percent of GDP.
