The French government will propose to merge or scrap a third of state institutions by the end of the year in a bid to cut public spending, a Reuters report said Sunday, citing France's Minister for Public Accounts Amelie de Monchalin.
According to the report, Monchalin said in an interview with French news outlets CNews and Europe 1 on Sunday that the government plans to "propose in the budget that a third of state-backed agencies and operators that are not universities will be merged or eliminated."
Doing so would save two to three billion euros, she said.
The French government has announced to lower the country's budget deficit from the current 5.4 percent of GDP to 3 percent by 2029, in accordance with the requirements of the European Union (EU).
Additionally, the government revealed that it seeks to reduce overall spending by 40 billion euros in the upcoming fiscal year as part of its budgetary reforms.
France proposing merging, scrapping third of gov't agencies
