Paris (AFP)
The French public debt will remain above 100% of the GDP for "ten years at least", estimated Sunday the first president of the Court of Auditors Pierre Moscovici, adding that the stake was to ensure that it remains "sustainable" .
"We will live for at least ten years with a public debt greater than 100% of GDP. We will live for at least 5 years, 4 to 5 years, with budget deficits greater than 3% of GDP," the former guest European commissioner of Radio J.
France has spent lavishly since the spring of 2020 to face the health and economic crisis, with more than 86 billion euros disbursed to support businesses and the health sector.
The country should thus have ended the year 2020 with a debt of around 120% of GDP, which is expected to further swell to 122.4% this year due to new spending to support the economy, forecasts the government.
For the former socialist elected and first president of the Court of Auditors, there is no problem at this level of public spending in the context of the epidemic: "public spending can no longer be considered as an enemy . In an exceptional crisis, exceptional measures are needed ", he defended.
And according to him, "the outlook must change" on the perception of public spending.
The stake is not "is there too much deficit?", But "how in the future we must have a sustainable debt so that our children are not crushed by the weight of debt in a few years? ”he insisted.
"You have to ask yourself, above all, what is public expenditure for? Is public money well spent? Is it going to the right place?", Added Pierre Moscovici, who wants to strengthen this approach in the work of the Court of Auditors.
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