the Fitch agency maintains France’s rating at the “AA-” level but places it under negative outlook, the government “takes note” of this rating

The Fitch rating agency maintains France’s rating at AA-, but places it under negative outlook, which means that it plans to downgrade it in the future, it announced on Friday October 11 in a press release. Economy Minister Antoine Armand said “take note” of Fitch’s decision, while adding that “the agency highlights the strength of our large and diverse economy, the effectiveness of our institutions and our history of macro-financial stability”.

“Fiscal policy risks have increased since our last review,” explains Fitch, whose previous note published on France dates back to April. “This year’s expected budget slippage places France in a more unfavorable situation, and we now expect larger budget deficits, which will lead to a sharp increase in public debt to reach 118.5% of GDP by 2028”writes Fitch in its press release.

While the government intends to reduce the French public deficit to 5% of GDP from 2025 and then below 3% in 2029, the Fitch agency does not believe it: it has raised its public deficit forecasts for France in 2025 and 2026 “at 5.4% of GDP”. “The draft budget for 2025 that we have just presented reflects the government’s determination to straighten out the trajectory of public finances and control France’s debt.”estimated for his part the Minister of the Economy.