1000s stage anti-austerity protest in France

Thousands of the French have demonstrated in the capital Paris against austerity measures introduced by the government.

The opposition Left Party (PG) and the far-left NPA party organized the Saturday event against the policies adopted by the socialist administration of President Francois Hollande.

The demonstrators were holding signs reading “no to austerity” and “Hollande, that’s enough.”

They said Hollande is not different from his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy.

Hollande is struggling to revive the fragile French economy by cutting business taxes.

However, opposition parties have urged him to discard his business-friendly economic reforms, dubbed the responsibility pact, and public sector deficit targets determined by the European Union.

Opponents say the economic reforms include huge cuts to health care, local authorities and family subsidies to finance some 30 billion euros ($41 billion) in tax breaks for businesses looking to employ more staff.

“A 30 billion gift to big business is something monstrous in a period of austerity we live in,” Left Front leader Jean-Luc Melenchon stated ahead of the Saturday rally.

France suffered two recessions in recent years and is currently coping with an unemployment rate of over ten percent. Growth was calculated at 0.2 percent in 2013.

Hollande’s approval rating has reached record lows largely due to his failure to lower the unemployment rate and manage the flagging economy.

According to a recent poll conducted jointly by TNS Sofres, Sopra group and Le Figaro magazine, and published in February, Hollande’s popularity plummeted to 19 percent, a new low in his approval rating.

The poll showed that 78 percent of the French did not trust the president.