France Cuts Growth Forecast Again as Economic Uncertainty Weighs Heavy
Roland Lescure said slower growth and higher borrowing costs could make it harder to meet France’s 5.0% deficit target this year.
- On Friday, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure lowered the government's 2026 growth forecast to 0.5% from 0.7%, acknowledging that hitting the 5.0% deficit target is increasingly difficult.
- Fallout from the war in the Middle East, along with summer drought and heatwaves, has dragged down growth and stalled domestic demand, putting fiscal targets out of reach.
- Investors identified France as a weak link, pushing borrowing costs to €65 billion this year, while a Secours Populaire report found 26 percent of people are in a precarious situation.
- The degraded economic outlook complicates passing the 2027 budget in a deeply divided parliament, where parties have hardened positions ahead of the April-May presidential election.
- Despite these challenges, Lescure maintained a 1.0% growth projection for next year, though he emphasized France is operating under tight budgetary constraints with "no more fat to trim.
18 Articles
18 Articles
(Berlin=Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Gye-yeon = The French government has once again lowered its economic growth forecast for this year as chronic fiscal instability is compounded by a heatwave.
In announcing a dull growth, the government confirmed that France "will have a deficit of more than 5% in 2026." Bad news for Agnès Verdier-Molinié, for whom this poses a problem of image vis-à-vis creditors.
France cuts growth forecast again as economic uncertainty weighs heavy
France's economy will grow less than expected in 2026, meaning the government will miss its budget deficit target, Finance Minister Roland Lescure has said. It is the third time this year the government…
The positions in the French Parliament are already hardened, and the adoption of a budget could become a problem – and now the finance minister is lowering the growth forecast.
The French government has cut its growth forecast for 2026 to 0.5 percent, from the previously expected 0.7 percent, and now projects a growth of one percent for next year, Economy Minister Roland Lescure said. The government also forecasts inflation of 2.1 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2027,...
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