The French official gazette on Tuesday published the details of the wealth declaration made by the outgoing French President Jacques Chirac to the Constitutional Council in accordance with the 1962 organic law on presidential elections.

Currently, the first family owns "a second home" in Correze, central France, and the chateau of Bity, which the first family acquired in 1969, valued at 500,000 euros (about 678,900 U.S. dollars).

The president also owns a "rural home" in Correze, which belongs to him personally, as it was inherited from his mother who passed away in 1973. The rural home is valued at 60,000 euros.

The total value of the assets declared by the first family is approximately 580,000 euros and the amount of money held in current and savings accounts is about 74,000 euros.

In addition, the couple also owns a 1984 Peugeot 205.

According to the law, candidates in French presidential elections must communicate the details of their wealth to the Constitutional Council in a sealed envelope.

The declaration made by the candidate who is elected president is published in the official gazette. At the end of his mandate, the president must make another declaration on the status of his wealth which is once again published in the official gazette. The wealth declaration made by the first family in the run-up to the 2002 presidential elections was modified in 2004 after a Paris apartment belonging to the couple was "transferred to the ownership of Claude Chirac, the couple's daughter" in the presence of the notary public.

Source: Xinhua