These figures are usually eagerly awaited and commented on ... INSEE published on Wednesday its estimate of France's deficit and debt in 2019. The debt thus stabilized over one year at 98.1% of GDP and the deficit is limited to 3%, instead of the 3.1% announced, or 2.2% excluding the exceptional measure to transform the Competitiveness tax credit for employment (CICE) into a lasting reduction in contributions.
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" The 2019 accounts published by INSEE confirm the serious budget of the government since 2017 ", hastened to congratulate Bercy. Except that there is no real reason to show off because the slight improvement observed is mainly explained by the fall in interest rates and therefore the drop in the burden of the gigantic public debt.
The bottom line is that no one is more interested in these quibbles today. In 2019, French debt remained below the ceiling of 100% of GDP and its deficit remained in the nails of Brussels. But these benchmarks, which have guided public action since the early 1990s, were shattered under the blast of the coronavirus crisis.
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In order to overcome the epidemic, the State resigned itself to seeing the country plunge into recession and to spend without counting to limit its effects. " We are at war, " repeated President Macron. As for the European Commission, it suspended the stability pact… For economists at the Toulouse School of Economy (TSE), “ the socialization of losses will result in a massive public deficit in 2020, perhaps around 10 % of GDP, and an increase in public debt by the same amount ”.
