PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday blamed a budget deficit blowout on the wider European economic slowdown and ruled out raising taxes to plug the hole, instead vowing to stay the course on an economic strategy he said was bearing fruit.
The euro zone's second-biggest economy will overshoot its budget deficit target for a second year in 2024 and plans to seek 10 billion euros ($10.76 billion) in cuts to reduce the shortfall, French officials said this week.
"We had a circumstantial shock at the end of last year which was more brutal than expected, largely because of a wider European slowdown, the German recession, the Italian slowdown, which led to a deterioration in the deficit," Macron said.
"So, is our strategy wrong? No, it isn't. It's showing results," he said, adding that the responsible strategy was to cut public spending "appropriately".
Speaking to reporters outside an arms manufacturer's plant, he said he would not shift strategy and ruled out raising taxes, despite calls from some lawmakers to increase taxes on the rich and companies to cut a deficit seen at 5.1% of GDP this year.
"I'm ruling out the scenario whereby we say we can fix this problem with that very French disease of raising taxes," he said, adding that a new emergency budget was not needed.
Macron also denied there was any tension with his long-time finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, who was accompanying him on the factory visit after French media reported Le Maire had failed to convince Macron to cut the deficit faster. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Alison Williams)
