November 25, 2024
French finance ministry warns of worsening deficit – POLITICO #FrenchFinance

French finance ministry warns of worsening deficit – POLITICO #FrenchFinance

CashNews.co

The gloomy warning comes as France is doing without a government and is under increased EU scrutiny, known as an excessive deficit procedure, for an overspend in 2023.

France already revised its deficit target for 2024 from an initial 4.4 percent of GDP to 5.1 percent. It also missed its deficit target last year (5.5 percent of GDP instead of 4.9 percent.)

The outgoing government has made it clear that it will be the responsibility of its successor to present the budget for 2025 and address its spending plans to the European Commission as part of the excessive deficit procedure.

France has to send to Brussels a multi-year plan to slash spending by September 20, but this deadline can be extended until October 15. Under French law, the government has to submit the budget to the parliament by October 1.

To speed up things, the outgoing government has started preparatory work, proposing to freeze spending at the same level as this year (€492 billion) instead of significantly cutting it.