French social security deficit below forecast

France has cut its social security deficit to 8.7 billion euros ($11.59 billion) compared with an initial target of 9.8 billion euros, health minister Xavier Bertrand said in a newspaper interview on Sunday. "Since 2004, the shortfall has been cut by 25 percent," Bertrand told French paper Le Journal du Dimanche.
Bertrand said all parts of the social security system posted below-target deficits, with the health insurance deficit coming in at 5.9 billion euros against a target of 6.1 billion.
The ruling UMP conservative government has made cutting France's national debt one of its key priorities as it prepares for the presidential elections in April and May.