French budget deficit widens compared to a year ago

PARIS (Reuters) - France's budget deficit widened in 2018 compared to a year earlier, according to official data published on Tuesday, as the euro zone's second-biggest economy grappled with anti-government protests that have hit consumer confidence.

The INSEE national statistics office said the 2018 overall deficit at the end of December stood at 76.1 billion euros (67.74 billion pounds), compared to a 67.7 billion deficit in 2017.

($1 = 0.8716 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Myriam Rivet; Editing by Laurence Frost)