Paris  - The French government's budget deficit more than doubled in one year because of the effects of the economic crisis, the Budget Ministry reported Friday.

At the end of September, the deficit stood at 128.5 billion euros (191 billion dollars), compared to 56.6 billion euros at the same time last year.

The change "is explained mainly by the weight of the economic situation on (state) revenues and, at a total of 29.9 billion euros, the effect of the economic stimulus measures," the ministry said.

General budget revenues stood at 169.7 billion euros on September 30, compared to 221.6 billion euros one year earlier.

The ministry said that the development was in line with expectations. The French government has said that the deficit for the entire year would reach 141 billion euros, or 8.2 per cent of GDP.

Recently, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said his government would introduce a public finance strategy intended to reduce the deficit to below 3 per cent of GDP by the year 2014, to conform with EU regulations.(dpa)