Hollande eyes to save €50bn by 2017

French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday said to squeeze public spending by 50 billion euros (68.42 billion U.S. dollars) for 2015-2017 period to put the country's finances in order at the end of his five-year term. "Reducing spending ... is the way to reduce the budget deficit and lower taxes," Hollande told a large gathering of French and foreign journalists. With the budget deficit of Europe's second largest economy which would stand at 3.6 percent in 2014, the president pointed to the necessity to save 15 billion euros this year and additional 50 billion euros during next three years. In a bid to evaluate public fiscal policies, the head of state unveiled the creation of a "strategic council on public spending" to be held "every month." "Rather than making blind cuts, as has been the case in the past ... I propose to implement structural reforms and redefine the core missions of the state and review our redistribution mechanisms to make them fairer, more ecologically greener and more efficient," Hollande said during his third press meeting. Struggling with weak poll ratings, Hollande estimates that the 2-trillion-euro economy will grow by 0.9 percent this year from 0.1 percent expected in 2013. (1 euro = 1.368 U.S. dollar)