France will try to shave 5 billion euros of its budget to help maintain the debt under control, said a minister on Wednesday, April 9, however, he added that some would be gathered in defense. The Budget Minister, Amélie de Montchalin, spoke like Moody’s, a qualifications agency, was expected to announce his new Evaluation of French public debt on Friday. “There will be an additional of € 5 billion in the efforts that we will make in the next week (…) to maintain the road to the reduction of the debt,” said Montchalin, adding that the money would be “canceled, postponed or redirected.”
“Or these five billion, one part will go to the essential defense spending” so that France had “the average of supporting Ukraine” against Russia and traveling to Iself, he added.
France has fought to tame its debt, with the deficit that dates back to 3% or the limit of the GDP established for eurozone members. The government of Prime Minister François Bayrou has promised to reduce the deficit to 5.4% of GDP this year, with the aim of recovering less than 3% in 2029.
France’s debt increased by another 202.7 billion euros to € 3.3 billion ($ 3.55 billion) last year, which represents 113% of the country’s GDP, according to the National Statistics Agency.
Moody’s, until now, has described France’s debt as AA3 with a stable perspective, while the S&P and Fitch rating agencies have put it in AA with a negative perspective.
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