Germany, France agree to boost investment

Berlin, Oct 21 (IANS) Germany and France have agreed to strengthen investment for the euro zone economy.

Ministers from Germany and France Monday agreed to draw up joint plans by early December to boost investment in order to revive the sagging euro zone economy, Xinhua reported.

After meeting their German counterparts in Berlin, French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron and Finance Minister Michel Sapin told reporters that both sides agreed to work together to strengthen investments and competitiveness.

The ministers, however, did not disclose details of their agreements. According to Sapin, concrete measures would be unveiled Dec 1.

Both Germany and France were under pressure as Germany was urged to spend more from its abundant public funds while France was criticized for not cutting deficit enough.

Last week, French government submitted its 2015 budget with a deficit of 4.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to Brussels.

Earlier this month, France admitted that it would not be able to reduce its budget deficit to under the European Union’s limit of 3 percent of GDP until 2017, two years later than it previously committed.