BALLADUR MAINTAINS 1987 FRENCH INFLATION TARGET

  Finance Minister Edouard Balladur said he
  was maintaining his 2.5 pct inflation target for 1987 after the
  announcement earlier today of a 3.4 pct year-on-year rise in
  retail prices for February.
      He told a radio interviewer he saw no reason to revise his
  target for 1987 after the February monthly result of between
  0.1 to O.2 pct, following a 0.9 pct rise in January (three pct
  year on year) that forced the government to revise an earlier
  target of two pct to a current 2.5 pct.
      He said he was happy with "a good result" for February but
  stressed a need for continued "vigilance" against inflation.
      A Finance Ministry statement said the year-on-year
  differential between French and lower West German inflation
  rates, calculated on the last three months, had narrowed in
  February to two to 2.3 pct compared to 2.7 pct in January.
      If calculated on the last 12 months, the differential came
  to 3.9 pct, the statement said, adding "The tendency is
  therefore one of a lessening of the inflation gap with our main
  trading partner."
  

