Nothing glorious, but nothing to panic about. According to national accounts, the old age branch shows a balance in the red of 1.1 billion euros in 2023. Taking into account the scale of the overall French budget deficit - 154 billion in 2023 or 5.5% of the product gross domestic product (GDP) - the figure seems almost reasonable. Even surprisingly solid given the demographic imbalances which undermine the balance of pensions. Except that it in no way reflects the reality of French social accounts, a handful of experts have been insisting for several months.
The latter mention tens of billions of euros earmarked from ministries' credits to finance pensions and which are therefore not counted in the Social Security budget. This controversy fascinates specialists in French social systems and circles of national accounting experts. At a time of all-out search for savings in the social sphere, against a backdrop…
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