On September 28, French President François Hollande announced that, despite reductions for other ministries in the 2013 budget, the Higher Education and Research Ministry will receive a 2.2% funding increase to nearly €23 billion ($29 billion), or €26 billion including funding from other ministries. The budget for research grants will increase 1.2% to €7.86 billion, and the operations budget for basic research institutes will grow by €60 million. But the budget for the National Research Agency will decrease 3.1% to €687 million. The funding increase will establish 1,000 jobs at universities, and none of the 68,449 public research positions will be eliminated. Smaller firms will receive a 20% tax break on innovation investments. The budget assumes that the economy will grow 0.8% in 2013, but economists estimate growth will be about half that figure. Inflation is predicted to be 1.75%. Parliament could alter the budget before it takes effect in December.

Source: Nature