France's state finances in catastrophic state Member of European Parliament says

Member of the European Parliament (EP) from France Geoffroy Didier said that public finances are in a catastrophic situation, pointing to the growth of the country's public debt.

The MEP revealed the situation in one of the economic spheres of the countries in his address to the European Commission (EC), Pravda reports.

"France has accumulated an additional 900 billion euros of debt since 2017, its public deficit reached at least 4.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, and the country's debt burden will rise to 57 billion euros in 2024. If Moody's and Fitch, or if Standard & Poor's downgrades France on April 26 or May 31, respectively, it will further undermine the authority of Emmanuel Macron and his government, as well as their ability to govern France," Didier said in a statement.

The Finance Committee of the French Senate conducted an audit of the Ministry of Economy and criticized the French government for "hiding information." They noted that if the deficit continues to get out of control of the government, then in 2024 and 2025 it is projected at 5.7 per cent and 5.9 per cent of GDP, respectively. However, the official statistics submitted to the Commission were 4.4 per cent and 3.7 per cent.

In this regard, he asked the EC about its intention to influence the situation. "In view of this disastrous budget management by the government (...) and given the gap between the deficits that were announced and those that are now envisaged: does the Commission consider that the French government may have been negligent or cunning in drawing up its latest budget? Does it plan to initiate a violation procedure against France in the near future for excessive deficit?" he asked.

In February 2024, it was reported that the French Cabinet would reduce budget expenditures in order to use the released resources to send military aid to Ukraine for three billion euros. As journalists wrote, this is required, because without official changes to the main financial documents of the country, they cannot find such money in France.