French economy stalls as Francois Hollande is sworn in Mr Hollande has criticised the German-led focus on austerity as a way out of the European economic crisis. Mr Hollande has vowed to confront a crisis in the public finances with a combination of a heavier tax burden and lower public spending, targeting a returning to a balanced budget by the end of his five-year term in office. It is a tall order for a country swamped by an annual budget deficit of €100bn euros and a debt level of 90pc of GDP. The crisis goes deeper. "Since 2005, export growth has fallen significantly below the euro area average," said the International Monetary Fund. Current account balances continue to deteriorate, raising concerns about the competitiveness of French exports. These contain a large share of low to medium-tech products that face competition from emerging economies," it said.