French public debt over 2.0 trillion euros for first time

France's public debt topped the symbolic level of 2.0 trillion for the first time, in the second quarter of the year, the national statistics agency INSEE said Tuesday.

The total national debt amounted to 2.023 trillion euros ($2.57 trillion), INSEE said, which represents 95.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). European Union rules limit debt to 60 percent of GDP.