France needs more time to reduce the budget deficit, the public auditor says to Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) – France needs more time to bring its budget deficit in line with the European Union (EU) limit than the current deadline of 2027, the head of the public audit office Pierre Moscovici told lawmakers on Wednesday.

France’s public finances have been too far off course this year to realistically expect its deficit reduction targets to be met without huge spending cuts, Moscovici said.

He told the lower house of parliament’s Finance Committee that meeting the target of hitting the EU’s 3 percent of GDP deficit ceiling in 2027 would require 100 billion euros ($111 billion) in spending cuts.

“We need to be more realistic, it seems to me. I think the European Commission would always prefer the truth to be told and the objectives to be realistic rather than unbearable,” said Moscovici.

Moscovici, a former EU economy commissioner, called for targeted budget savings rather than sweeping cuts and said France had little room to raise taxes further because they were already among the highest in the world.

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