French motorways' toll charges to go up by 4.75% on average next year

PARIS (Reuters) - The toll charges on France's motorways, run by the likes of companies Vinci and Eiffage, will go up by 4.75% on average next year - below current headline inflation rates - said the French ministry of transport.

French Transport Minister Clement Beaune added in a statement that this motorway toll increase was in line with the government's overall strategy of trying to protect French consumers from rising inflation.

Motorists in France and elsewhere in Europe have been hit this year by rising petrol prices, as the price of oil has climbed in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

French inflation was up 7.1% on a year-on-year basis in November.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)