Austerity: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Marie
France is putting an “emergency brake” on government spending to get its finances back under control, the finance minister has said.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, Bruno Le Maire warned that the 2023 budget deficit will be “significantly” above target and said further cuts were needed.
“The loss of tax revenue in 2023 will take us significantly above the 4.9 per cent target,” he said, adding that the £8.5 billion in cuts this year “is not about cutting costs, it’s about an emergency brake’.
A further £10bn of cuts will be needed by 2025 to get the rising budget deficit under control.
The comments – made ahead of Jeremy Hunt’s Budget yesterday – underline the scale of the task facing countries as the recovery from the pandemic falters in the wake of rising inflation.