France is set to revise down its target for growth this year, Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici signalled on Thursday.

Steep automatic spending cuts slated for March 1 could stall the US economic recovery, Jack Lew, the nominee for US Treasury secretary, told Congress Wednesday.

French officials conceded Wednesday that France is unlikely to achieve its target of reducing its public deficit to 3.0 percent of output this year.

US retail sales rose slightly in January, held back by a drop in auto sales as consumers took a breather after December's holiday shopping season, official data released Wednesday showed.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that France was unlikely to achieve its target of reducing its public deficit to three percent of output this year.

As the world digests the proposals put forth by President Obama and his rival Republicans, AFP is closing its Live Report on the State of the Union.

US Senator Marco Rubio, in the Republican response to Tuesday's State of the Union, challenged President Barack Obama to abandon his tax "obsession" and find a way to boost growth and cut the deficit.

The US government budget showed a surplus in January for the first time since September as the overall budget deficit trended lower, Treasury Department data released Tuesday showed.

An expert panel on Tuesday urged Canada to leverage hundreds of billions of dollars in planned defense spending to build up its defense sector, in order to bolster its economy.

US President Barack Obama urged Congress Saturday to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction, warning that steep budget cuts known as "the sequester" would hurt the economy and threaten thousands of American jobs.

Venezuela said it was devaluing its currency by 32 percent against the dollar on the orders of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez, in part to trim a bloated budget deficit.

Venezuela said it is devaluing its currency by 32 percent against the dollar on the orders of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez, in part to trim a bloated budget deficit.

The White House warned Friday that billions of dollars in automatic budget cuts set to kick in on March 1 were a "blunt" instrument that could wreak deep damage to the already fragile US economy.

President Barack Obama on Friday warned that looming budget cuts would damage the US military's readiness and urged lawmakers to strike a deal to avoid the massive spending reductions.

European Union leaders found themselves poles apart on the bloc's budget for the rest of the decade, with a tense summit opening six hours late Thursday amid efforts to reach a compromise.

EU leaders opened tough talks over a trillion-euro budget hours late Thursday amid sharp differences over spending cuts and investment for growth and jobs.

Defense chiefs on Thursday defended the military response to a militant attack on a US mission in Libya, but warned looming deep budget cuts threaten America's ability to protect itself.

The US military is not a 911 service ready to rush to every emergency around the world, Pentagon chief Leon Panetta told lawmakers Thursday, defending the response to an attack on a mission in Libya.

Frantic talks delayed the start of a tense summit Thursday on the EU's budget -- with Germany unsure of a deal and Britain at loggerheads with France over spending for the rest of the decade.

The US military will maintain only one aircraft carrier in the Gulf instead of two due to potential deep budget cuts that could kick in next month, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.