'French trade deficit hit a record high last year'

FRANCE suffered a record €69.6 billion (US$91.3 billion) trade deficit last year, junior minister for trade Pierre Lellouche said in a newspaper interview yesterday.

However, Lellouche told the Figaro daily, while the figure is higher than the previous record deficit of €56.2 billion recorded in 2008 it was nonetheless "lower than had been anticipated".

Last month Lellouche revised down an original estimate of a €75 billion trade deficit.

In 2011 France's imports rose by 11 per cent to €498 billion while exports rose by 8.6 per cent to €429 billion, allowing for the creation of 90,000 new jobs, he told the Figaro.

"We can be satisfied at the good results in certain sectors, the agro-food sector saw a historic surplus of €11.4 billion. Aeronautics also saw a surplus, of €17.7 billion, thanks to the sale of 534 Airbus planes," Lellouche said.

AFP