Lower house of French parliament passes 2013 budget

PARIS, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- France's lower house of parliament on Thursday passed definitively the government's 2013 budget which aims at cutting the country's deficit and putting it on the road to economic recovery.

As the Socialist government's first annual budget, it targets to bring the budget deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 from a projected 4.5 percent this year by collecting 37 billion euros (49 billion U.S. dollars) through high taxes on the rich.

Despite a challenging financial climate in the eurozone, the Socialists wanted to narrow the budget deficit by 398 million euros to 61.237 billion euros.

Despite criticism over its too optimistic growth forecast, the government has stuck to its pledge to expand the country's national wealth by 0.3 percent this year and by 0.8 percent in 2013. (1 euro = 1.33 U.S. dollars)

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