Is the 2025 State budget project, announced by Gabriel Attal, down or up compared to 2024? – Libération

By renewing the same budget for 2025 as for 2024, the outgoing government is accused of cutting the state’s real budget by 10 billion due to inflation.

This will be one of the first challenges of the next government: the adoption of the 2025 budget, the timetable for which is expected to be tight. After the sending, on August 20, of the ceiling letters – which set the credit limits – to the ministries, the Finance Bill must be tabled on October 1 in Parliament.

On the way out, but in order “to ensure the continuity of the State”Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced, as part of these ceiling letters, a budget equivalent – ​​in value – to that of this year. It is up to his or her replacement to modify it by October 1, or subsequently as part of the parliamentary procedure. The overall amount of the State budget for 2025 (excluding pensions and interest on the debt) is thus displayed at 492 billion euros. A figure effectively equivalent to that of 2024.

10 billion in credits cancelled

At first glance, however, this could appear to be decreasing, because it does not take into account inflation (expected at around 2%). This means that the State’s “purchasing power” decreases by 2% between 2024 and 2025, or 10 billion euros. The State budget, in volume, therefore decreases by 10 billion compared to 2024.

Except that the point of comparison with 2024 is not exactly 492 billion. This amount corresponds in fact to what