France and Germany united on strategy to fight global slowdown: French minister

France and Germany are agreed on a joint strategy to respond to a global economic slowdown at a time of international trade tensions, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday.

In a news conference alongside Germany's finance and economy ministers, Le Maire said the strategy was based on three pillars: "keep reducing public debt where it is necessary. And it is the case in France; keep pursuing structural reforms, as we are doing in France; have budget policies that can take up the baton from monetary policy."