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Budget: the public deficit will reach 5.1% of GDP in 2024
Budget: the public deficit will reach 5.1% of GDP in 2024
(France 2)
The public deficit will reach 5.1% of GDP in 2024, after rising to 5.5% in 2023, despite new efforts. The State must in fact manage to save 10 billion in the year.
Public finances are in the red: the deficit is expected to reach 5.1% of GDP in 2024. The forecast has been largely revised upwards by the government. The State assures that the budgetary slippage is due to the drop in revenue: less VAT collected, but fewer taxes paid by businesses and individuals. The coffers are less full, after years of “whatever it costs”.
10 billion savings in 2024
The government assures that the trajectory will recover. He anticipates a reduction in the deficit from 2025 to 4.1%, before a hoped-for return to 2.9% in 2027. To achieve this, the State must find an additional 10 billion euros in 2024. 5 billion euros will be requested from public administrations, 2.5 billion from local authorities, then the same sum by taxing the annuities of electricity suppliers and companies which buy back their own shares.
This would only be the beginning, according to economist Mathieu Plane. “20 billion in additional savings have already been announced for 2025, and probably even more if we want to meet the 3% public deficit objective for 2027, especially if the government does not want to touch taxation” he indicates. The government is ruling out a tax increase for the moment.
Among our sources:
Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty
Anne-Sophie Alsif Chief Economist at BDO France
Mathieu Plane: Deputy Director of the Analysis and Forecasting Department at the OFCE
Non-exhaustive list.
