France’s 2023 budget deficit to ‘significantly’ miss 4.9% target, Le Maire says

PARIS: France will miss its target of reducing the 2023 budget deficit to the equivalent to 4.9% of its gross domestic product and will need additional spending cuts, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview with Le Monde newspaper released on Wednesday.

“Due to lower tax revenues in 2023, we will be significantly above the 4.9% target. These 10 billion euros (spending cuts) are not a matter of shaving off some costs, but an emergency brake,” Le Maire said, referring to a 10 billion euro ($10.86 billion) spending cuts package announced last month.

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He did not specify where the final 2023 budget deficit target would end up.

On February 18, Le Maire said the government would make sure France remained on track to meet its target of reducing the 2024 state deficit to the equivalent to 4.4% of GDP.