France set to boost defence spending

France is poised to increase its defence budget for the coming year, reaching €50.5 billion.

The proposed 2025 budget reflects an increase of €3.3 billion for defence, bringing allocations to 2% of the country’s GDP, Caliber.Az reports via French media.

Since 2017, defence spending has consistently risen from €32 billion, with projections suggesting it could soar to €67.4 billion by 2030.

Additionally, the budget for the arms program is set to rise by 16%, reaching €10.6 billion. Funding for nuclear deterrent forces is expected to grow by 8%, amounting to €7 billion.

In conjunction with the defence budget increase, French authorities have also introduced a draft budget for 2025 that entails a reduction in overall spending by €40 billion.

The government anticipates total budget revenues of €536 billion against expenditures of €684 billion, resulting in a projected deficit of €148 billion.

By the end of September, France’s public debt had surged to an unprecedented figure of over €3.2 trillion. Economy and Finance Minister Antoine Armand suggested that debt servicing could emerge as the largest expenditure item in the national budget.

By Tamilla Hasanova