In France, bringing public finances back on a sustainable path following years of spending increases would require the government to adopt politically painful measures that may ultimately lead to a government collapse and early elections. On April 10, the French government unveiled new annual budgetary objectives through 2027 in response to a rapid deterioration of the country's public finances, raising its deficit target for 2024 to 5.1% of gross domestic product from the originally planned 4.4%. Meanwhile, the government maintained its goal of bringing the deficit below 3% in 2027. Achieving this target will require additional spending cuts worth 10 billion euros ($10.85 billion) this year, on top of the 10 billion euros of cuts already announced in February, and even stricter measures for the 2025 budget, with the Finance Ministry working on a further 20 billion euro cut for 2025 to bring the fiscal deficit back on a downward...
