By Stacy Meichtry 

PARIS--The French government unveiled billions in tax cuts Monday as it seeks to revive flagging public support for President Emmanuel Macron and his efforts to overhaul France's economy.

Mr. Macron is threading a needle as he tries to stimulate the economy without undercutting his pledge to make France a model of fiscal discipline within the European Union.

The 2019 budget published by the government Monday contained a series of cuts to housing and payroll taxes that the government said would amount to EUR6 billion ($7.052 billion) in taxpayer savings. France's deficit is expected to reach 2.8% of gross domestic product in 2019, the government said, placing the country close to the EU's deficit ceiling of 3% of GDP.

Since taking office last year, Mr. Macron has positioned himself as one of the few leaders in Europe willing to demand overhauls at home and across the EU on issues ranging from immigration to proposals to strengthen the eurozone.

That agenda, however, is coming under pressure after a summer of political setbacks that have dragged the president's approval rating to historic lows. Mr. Macron is straining to limit the fallout from a scandal that began when a presidential staffer was filmed manhandling protesters while wearing police equipment. More recently, Mr. Macron was blindsided by the resignation of Nicolas Hulot, a darling of the leftist wing of his political coalition who served as environment minister.

A poll of 1,964 people conducted by Ifop last week found that 29% approved of the president compared with 34% in August and 50% at the start of the year.

The decline is testing the cohesion of the political movement that swept Mr. Macron to office in the spring of 2017. While Mr. Macron maintains a commanding majority in parliament, many of his followers are former Socialist Party members who fear the president's pro-business agenda is eroding support on the left.

The same Ifop poll found that only 21% of people who identified as working class said they approved of Mr. Macron, compared with 25% in August. Approval among Green Party supporters fell to 25% from 37%. Meanwhile a slowdown in economic growth is narrowing Mr. Macron's margin for maneuver.

On Monday, the government said it expected the economy to grow 1.7% in 2019. That puts a squeeze on other items on Mr. Macron's to-do list, including reductions in spending on France's bloated public sector and cuts to corporate taxes. Those steps, business leaders say, are crucial for companies to boost hiring.

Early in Mr. Macron's presidency a surge in economic growth helped take the sting out of his efforts to shake up France. The president steamrolled opposition in parliament as he adopted changes, including a decree that stripped away workers' protections he said were to blame for France's chronically high unemployment.

Mr. Macron also governed as a leader above the political fray, having compared the office of the presidency to Jupiter--the king of gods in Roman mythology--in the run up to his election.

His opponents in parliament and the media responded by branding him the "president of the rich." The label has stuck. When Mr. Macron unveiled a spending package earlier this summer aimed at helping the poor, the announcement was quickly overshadowed by recent TV footage of the president lecturing an unemployed gardener on how to find work.

Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 24, 2018 09:24 ET (13:24 GMT)

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