Baptiste Morin 09:55, March 28, 2023

French debt has declined slightly in 2022, INSEE said on Tuesday. This is good news, while the latter still stands at nearly 111.6% of GDP. But is this level of debt really worrying? Europe 1 looks into the issue.

It's a nice surprise. The French debt has been reduced to 111.6% of GDP in 2022, thanks to the growth of the Hexagon reveals INSEE, while the deficit is at 4.7%. A figure below the government's forecasts. And if the country's debt is less serious than expected, it continues to exceed 100%. But is such a level of debt worrying? Europe 1 takes stock.

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Cost of debt

Because debt is the accumulation of successive deficits. Since the early 70s, France has recorded a public deficit. But states can live with high or even very high debt, like the France, whose risk of default is considered very unlikely. It is then said that "the debt is sustainable".

But the problem is the burden of debt, that is, the cost of that debt. It all depends on the rate levels. However, since the beginning of the inflationary period, the European Central Bank has raised rates regularly to fight inflation. A mechanism that automatically increases the debt burden. The latter has thus increased from €31 billion in 2021 to €42 billion in 2022.