PARIS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The French public debt widened by 5.2 billion euros (6.04 billion U.S. dollars) in the second quarter (Q2) of the year from a quarter earlier to a total of 2.29 trillion euros, official data showed on Friday.
According to Insee statistics bureau, the total number in the second quarter represents 99 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), down by 0.3 percentage points from the first three months of the year.
Second quarter's rise stemmed mainly from 19.5 billion euros growth in state debt over the period while cost of social security funds declined by 11.7 billion euros, it said.
The French government expects the total accumulated debt to reach 98.7 percent of the GDP this year compared to 98.5 percent in 2017.
By 2022, it pledges to lower the ratio to 92.7 percent.
Meanwhile, French households consumption in goods grew by 0.8 percent in August after it had reported zero growth a month earlier thanks to a rebound in manufacturing purchases, according to Insee. (1 euro = 1.162 U.S. dollars)
