France's Hollande pledges tax cuts if growth returns

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande promised in comments published on Wednesday to cut taxes if economic growth picks up in 2016, the year before the next presidential election. "If growth accelerates in 2016, we will extend further (tax cuts) because the French people should be first to benefit from the progress achieved," Hollande was quoted as saying in an interview with a group of regional dailies. The Socialist head of state, battling low approval ratings and high unemployment, has previously said he would not stand for a second term in 2017 unless the jobless rate improves significantly. With unemployment stuck near 10 percent, growth sputtered to a halt in the second quarter, imperilling France's 2015 fiscal targets, according to ratings agency Moody's. In his interview, previewed ahead of the newspapers' Thursday editions, Hollande acknowledged the "efforts" made by ordinary citizens to meet austerity cuts in 2012-13. "They have enabled us to restore our public finances and meet our European commitments," he said. (Reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by Mark Heinrich)