France's trade deficit breaks 'sad' record
The 2007 French trade deficit will likely come close to a record 38-39 billion euros (56-57 billion dollars), Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Herve Novelli said in an interview to appear Thursday. Novelli told the newspaper La Tribune the performance amounted to "a sad record." The shortfall in 2006 was 28.2 billion euros, according to customs authorities, who are due to release the 2007 figures on Thursday.
"Despite an improvement in exports, our industrial balance, which is barely positive, cannot compensate for the energy bill," Novelli told the paper. In the first 11 months of the year the shortfall amounted to 35.5 billion euros, far more than the 31.7 billion forseen by the government.
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