On Tuesday 17 October, the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said that the aim of bringing France out of the excessive deficit procedure in 2018 was “entirely achievable”.
He also told France Info that the Commission would propose the end of this procedure in spring 2018, if it felt that the French structural government deficit next year was “considerably below 3%” of GDP as, in order to do this, a threshold below 3% of GDP is required for two years consecutively. In its draft public finance bill for 2018, submitted to the Commission on Saturday 14 October, the government forecasts a deficit of 2.6% of GDP next year, while nominal deficit is expected to stand at 2.9% of GDP this year (see EUROPE 11884).
Next year, the Commission's attention will also focus on the budgetary trajectory for 2019, with the French government forecasting a nominal deficit that will once again skirt around 3% of GDP (see EUROPE 11871). Finally, Moscovici stressed the need to get the country out of debt, with French government debt continuing to rise and expected to stand at 96.4% of GDP this year (see EUROPE 11786). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)