Efforts to trim public expenditure helped France to narrow its budget deficit by 17.6 percent to 70.5 billion euros (79.14 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, lower than an initial government forecast of 74.4 billion euros, official figures showed Tuesday.

The narrowed deficit stemmed from lower spending at 371.8 billion euros, down by 1.56 percent from 2014.

As for revenue, the Socialist government collected 294.5 billion euros, up 6.3 billion euros on boosted net tax receipts, the ministry said.

Looking to 2016, the government estimates the budget deficit at 3.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) next year. It pledged to lower the figure to 2.8 percent, below the EU-mandated threshold.

To comply with European Union targets, France introduced a series of measures including public spending squeeze and reform aimed at spurring investment and breathing life into the sluggish job market. Endit

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