Bercy had prepared minds at the beginning of the month by announcing that the deficit would
“significantly”
exceed the government’s forecast.
The INSEE ax fell this Tuesday morning.
The public deficit finally slips to 5.5% of GDP in 2023, or 154 billion euros.
A revision which in passing ranks France among the dunces of the euro zone.
The debt reaches 110.6% of GDP after 111.9% at the end of 2022.
Even if this explosion in figures was expected and announced for several days by the government, it nonetheless remains a blow to France's economic credibility on the European scene and in front of the financial markets.
The ratings agencies' awards are expected within a month.
Read alsoDeficit: the executive in search of a politically painless budget cut
France had committed to Brussels to limit the increase in its deficit to 4.9% for 2023 after 4.7% in 2022. But, in particular due to much lower revenue than expected last year (more 7 billion less than government forecasts) and a macroeconomic situation which is tightening throughout Europe, France is deviating significantly from the budgetary trajectory that it had promised to follow.
This should lead it to gradually reduce its deficit to 2.7% by 2027. From now on, Bruno Le Maire, more cautious, is content instead to swear that the executive will keep
its commitment to pass
“at all costs”.
below 3%, by the end of the five-year term.
Read alsoDebt, deficits: wind of panic at the top of the State
But last year's ballooning deficit makes that goal even harder to achieve.
For this year, the government - which is still refusing to increase taxes for the moment - has already put in place an emergency savings plan of 10 billion euros to avoid too great a slippage in taxes. public accounts.
A budgetary effort that will have to be “
completed
”, according to Emmanuel Macron’s formula.
For next year, the Minister for the Budget, Thomas Cazenave, has already announced that at least 20 billion cuts in spending would be necessary.
Worse still, according to the Court of Auditors, these savings, although colossal, would not be sufficient.
Indeed, she estimates, for her part, that no less than 50 billion euros would have to be cut in public spending by 2027 to achieve the budgetary target.