The ruling Socialists stability program for a savings plan of 50 billion euros (67.93 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of their five-year term would lead to massive job losses and would contribute negatively to growth recovery, local media reported on Monday.
Citing the general reporter of the budget at the National Assembly, Valerie Rabault, the business daily le Echos said the government deficit scheme based on belt-tightening measures "would have a negative impact on the growth of an average of 0.7 percent per year between 2015 and 2017, and could cut 250,000 jobs over (the period)."
"The savings plan's impact must be assessed in terms of financial risks that could face our country if the public accounts won't be restored," Rabault said, stressing the need to balance between growth recovery and squeezing spending.
Under pressure to respect its financial commitment to bring down its budget gap to 3 percent next year from an expected 3.8 percent in 2014, the government decided to freeze pensions and welfare benefits for a year and keeps most civil service pay frozen until 2017.
According to the report, the Socialists' "responsibility pact," which offered companies 30-billion-euro cut in labor charge to encourage investment and recruitment, would compensate job losses by creating 190,000 posts over the next three years.(1 euro = 1.36 U.S. dollars)