Brussels, 19/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 18 September, the French president, François Hollande, said that it would be a mistake to “frogmarch” in a cut in the public deficit against a backdrop of low growth and low inflation. Hollande said that France shouldn't be expected to achieve in five years what it took its German friends more than ten years to achieve, in a much more favourable economic environment without public deficit constraints. He said Paris wasn't asking for special treatment and would introduce the planned €50 billion of savings, but would not go any further because that would jeopardise growth. French finance minister Michel Sapin announced a few days ago that the French public deficit will reach 4.4% of GDP by the end of 2014, compared with the previous forecast of 3.8%. France now forecasts a deficit of 4.3% of GDP in 2015, which will fall below the 3% bar at the end of 2017, two years after the deadline that had already been extended. François Hollande's press conference on Thursday 18 September was buzzing with rumours of an imminent downgrade of France's debt by Moody's credit rating agency. Hollande said that the country had never borrowed at such low interest rates. On Friday, Sapin called for an investigation by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers about “false news” about a reduction in the debt rating, published in French newspaper L'Opinion. (EL)