In comments to France Info, Lescure addressed the unexpected debt review by S&P, which was scheduled for November, and the reasons provided by the agency.
“Let’s be responsible to convince them that our estimates are good,” said Lescure, following the rating agency’s justification for the review due to little confidence in the official deficit forecasts.
The minister expressed confidence that the forecasts could be met and emphasized the role of the “government and parliament to convince observers, rating agencies, and financial markets.”
In the review published on Friday night, S&P noted that despite the presentation of the budget project for 2026, aiming to reduce the deficit to 4.7% of GDP, “uncertainty about France’s public finances remains high.”
After a deficit of 5.8% of GDP in 2024, the rating agency believes that France will achieve this year’s target of 5.4%, but that “in the absence of significant additional measures,” the reduction will “be slower than previously anticipated.”
With its European partners, France has committed to decreasing the public finance deficit in the coming years to fall below 3% by 2029 – the limit set by the Stability Pact and the point where public debt is projected to stop growing.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance states that it is a shared responsibility of the government and parliament to secure the approval of a budget that meets the project presented this week and reduces the deficit to 4.7%.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, to prevent socialists from supporting motions of no confidence – given the importance of their vote to avoid another government collapse – admitted some leeway to negotiate the budget, although he insisted that the deficit must remain below 5% of GDP.
He also announced the suspension of the implementation of the pension reform, which delays the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years – a demand of the socialists.
The debate on the French budget for 2026 formally begins next Monday in the Finance Committee of the National Assembly and is expected to be marked by political tension.
