Bruno Le Maire had announced 25 billion euros of savings this year, but only 10 billion were implemented before the early legislative elections.
The French government has asked the European Commission for an extension of the deadline for sending its plan to reduce the public deficit, which was initially due by September 20, the Finance Ministry said on Saturday, confirming information from The Tribune Sunday. “France has requested such an extension” pour “ensure consistency between the plan and the 2025 finance bill”the Ministry of Economy told the weekly, without specifying the length of the delay.
Requested by theAFPBercy confirmed the information. Targeted since the end of July by a European procedure for excessive deficit, like six other EU member states, France must send its plan to Brussels by September 20 to reduce the public deficit until 2027, by which date it should normally have returned below the authorized 3%.
A larger deficit than expected
According to European texts, the deadline is valid “unless the Member State and the Commission agree to extend this period for a reasonable period”. Countries are required to take corrective measures to comply with European budgetary rules in the future, under penalty of financial sanctions. However, in France, the unexpected surge in local authority spending, coupled with disappointing tax revenues, could push the public deficit to 5.6% of GDP this year, or even 6.2% in 2025, compared to 5.5% in 2023, according to budget documents sent this week by Bercy to parliamentarians.
The outgoing government has prepared a 2025 budget for its successor “reversible” which provides for State expenditure strictly equivalent to that of 2024 (492 billion euros), but distributed differently between ministries. Finance Minister Bruno le Maire had announced 25 billion euros of savings this year, but only 10 billion were materialized before the early legislative elections.
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“A return of the deficit below 3% by 2027”as planned in the multi-annual trajectory of public finances transmitted by France to Brussels in the spring, “would mean savings of around 110 billion by 2027”warned the General Directorate of the Treasury in a note dated July consulted by AFP. The president of the Court of Auditors Pierre Moscovici also estimated this trajectory “obsolete”, “became unlikely and not necessarily desirable”.
“To achieve this, we would need to save around a hundred billion euros in three years.”he said in an interview with Parisian published Saturday. “It’s brutal, it’s politically difficult to do, socially unacceptable and economically hardly coherent.”he said.
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