Deficit: the president of the Court of Auditors points to a “significant” slippage

Europe 1 with AFP 9:41 a.m., March 26, 2024

The first president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, regretted on Tuesday the "significant" and "very, very rare" slippage in France's deficit, estimated at 5.5% of GDP in 2023 compared to 4.9% initially expected by the government. “I am no longer surprised, we have been calculating this figure for a few days, but it is still a slippage in execution which is significant, not entirely unprecedented but very, very rare,” he said. on France Inter.

>> READ ALSO -

 France's debt: faced with deficits, the majority divided on tax increases

“We didn’t see coming the fact that after a while the revenue would end up flattening out”

“The 4.9% was already not a performance, since the 2022 deficit was at 4.8%,” explained the former Minister of the Economy and Finance. Compared to the 2022 deficit, with the forecast of 4.9% for 2023, "we already had a blank year, and here we have a worse year" with 5.5%, lamented Pierre Moscovici, judging that this slippage placed France in an “unfortunate situation”. The president of the control body, however, judged that there had been no "insincerity" in the government's deficit forecasts, "in the sense that there is no desire to deceive" from the from the executive.

But "the government was optimistic. For 2023, we did not see the fact coming that after a while revenues would end up flattening out," added Pierre Moscovici. While the Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire reaffirmed on Tuesday his intention to bring the deficit below the European objective of 3% by 2027, Pierre Moscovici judged this objective "attainable, but strained".