French parliament to vote on Hollande's reform pact in April

, March 12: French lawmakers will vote next month on President Francois Hollande's "responsibility pact", the Socialists' new scheme to deliver on their pledge to bring down alarming joblessness, a media report said here on Tuesday.

The parliament would also discuss the government's move to cut spending further by 50 billion euros (about $69 billion) between 2015 and 2017 to respect its financial commitment, Xinhua quoted sources close to presidency office as telling the Le Figaro daily.

Under fire for falling to fix France's sickly economy and reverse a long-running rise in unemployment, Hollande proposed a new pact aimed at lowering labour costs by scrapping of family contributions worth 30 billion euros in a bid to encourage recruitment and bolster competitiveness.

With his reform pact, the president eyes to create 1.8 million new posts over the next five years.

At the end of January, the number of people out of work in France reached a record high last month to more than 3.316 million.

IANS