The State will have to find an additional 10 billion euros to limit the public deficit to 5.1% of GDP in 2024

The Ministry of the Economy unveiled its new public finance trajectory on Wednesday, in a tense budgetary context.

The public deficit will reach 5.1% of GDP in 2024, instead of the 4.4% initially planned, the Ministry of the Economy announced on Wednesday April 10. To achieve this new objective, the State will have to find an additional 10 billion euros this year. Furthermore, the government is targeting a deficit limited to 2.9% in 2027, below the 3% set by the European Union.

The debt, for its part, would vary little between now and 2027 as a percentage of GDP, going from 112.3% this year to 112%. However, the charge itself would soar, from 46.3 billion euros in 2024 to 72.3 billion in 2027, according to this data from France’s new stability program presented by the Ministry of the Economy and finances.

“Ambitious but credible” objectives

The return below 3% in 2027 (after 4.1% in 2025 and 3.6% in 2026), demanded by Brussels, would be supported by growth of 1.4% in 2025, 1.7% in 2026 and 1 .8% in 2027, according to Bercy which mentions “signs of recovery”. As for the 10 billion euros that will still have to be found this year, in addition to the 10 billion in savings on the state budget already announced in February, they could partially be found in “fairly significant reserves” ministries, according to Bercy.

But local authorities will also be asked, “as with other actors and other public authorities”, to be “stakeholders in this recovery”, warned the ministry. In total, Bercy qualified the new objectives mentioned on Wednesday “ambitious but credible”. For 2025, the government has already announced 20 billion in savings across all three areas (State, Social Security, communities).