FRENCH CENTRAL GOVERNMENT DEFICT DOUBLES IN ONE YEAR

       France on Friday said its central government deficit had doubled in the last 12 months, highlighting a jump in debt problems facing many governments because of the global economic crisis.
       Spending has increased sharply, and tax revenues have slumped by 23.5 per cent.
       As G-20 leaders gather in London to discuss many aspects of the crisis and how to emerge from debt-driven rescue stimulus programmes, The French budget ministry said the French central deficit more than doubled over 12 months.
       On July 31, the deficit stood at 109 billion euros (Bt5.3 trillion) from 51.4 billion euro at the same time last yeamr, about a month before the collapse of Lehman Brothers investment bank turned the global crisis into a threat of systemic failure.
       The ministry said: "The difference from one year to the next can be explained mainly by the weight of the economic situation on the trend for revenues, and by the effect of different measures to support the economy, amounting to 25.8 billion euro."
       The latest official French estimates signal that the central deficit will surge to a record of 140 billion euro at the end of this year.
       The government, which is completing its budget for next year, has said that it will not increase taxes.
       The data concerned only the central government budget, not the general public deficit as measured in the Eu and eurozone to contain public deficits under the Stability and Growth Pact.