PARIS: France’s finance minister promised on Wednesday that the tax hikes the government says are required to bring the country’s finances back on track will be targeted at high-income groups and limited in time.

A day after Prime Minister Michel Barnier pledged to tackle France’s “colossal” debt through spending cuts and new taxes, Antoine Armand told the RTL broadcaster that low- and middle-earners would be spared from the extra fiscal burden.

France is looking to improve its financial situation by some 40 billion euros ($44 billion) next year in the hope of bringing the public sector deficit to five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from an estimated more than six percent this year.

Two thirds of that sum are to come from spending cuts, and the rest from new taxes.