The French government has finally bowed to reality, lowering its official economic growth projections and acknowledging that its deficit will not fall as quickly as promised.
But its outlook is still rosier than other independent forecasts.
In a report today, the French government said growth will be just 0.1% this year and 1.2% next - a big drop from 0.8% and 2% previously.
The new estimates are in line with what the European Commission has said for months. But even after the downgrades, the forecasts are still above those of many independent economists.
The International Monetary Fund yesterday slashed its forecasts, predicting France's economy will contract 0.1% this year and grow 0.9% next.
Since the government has said it will not cut any more spending, lower growth means higher deficits. As a result, France will not cut the deficit to 3% of annual gross domestic product until next year and will not balance the budget during President Francois Hollande's term.
That is a major departure from Hollande's campaign promises - but not all that surprising given that no French government has balanced a budget in nearly 40 years, despite promises by most to do so.
Instead, the government said the deficit will fall to 3.7% of annual gross domestic product this year and to 0.7% in 2017.
It has been a long road down for the French government's growth projections, which started at 1.7% for this year during Hollande's campaign for the presidency last year. The government said that in addition to meeting less stringent targets, it hopes to rein in the deficit by going after tax fraud.
