French President Francois Hollande expects an economic recovery that will allow the government to lower taxes, a newspaper reported him as saying on Sunday.

"The reform effort is not over yet, but the economic recovery is arriving. This phase will lead to stronger growth, better competitiveness and a redistribution of purchasing power via lower taxes," Journal du Dimanche quoted Hollande as saying.

Hollande, elected for a five-year term in May 2012, said "we have entered the second phase of my term."

During the election campaign, Hollande pledged to focus in the early years of his mandate on restoring France's finances before working to improve households' purchasing power once a lower budget deficit was on track.

On Tuesday, parliament approved a 50 billion euro ($69.36 billion) deficit reduction plan that aims to cut France's public deficit to the European Union's ceiling of 3 percent of GDP by 2015.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls also said on Saturday the euro was too strong and Hollande would take initiatives to boost growth and employment after the May 22-25 European elections.

"We need a more appropriate monetary policy, because the level of the euro is too high. We need a major change that makes our monetary policy a tool for growth and job creation, a tool that serves the people," Valls said at a meeting of young European socialists close to Paris.

The euro is up more than 5 percent against the dollar over the past year, hurting exports by making them less competitive on international markets and weighing on profits of European companies.

Global Times