France will try to shave €5 billion off its budget to help keep debt in check, a minister said on Wednesday, April 9, however adding that some would be reallocated to defence. Budget Minister Amélie de Montchalin spoke as Moody's, a ratings agency, was expected to announce its new evaluation of French public debt on Friday. "There will be an extra €5 billion in efforts we will make in the coming weeks (...) to maintain the path to debt reduction," de Montchalin said, adding that this money would be "cancelled, postponed or redirected."
"Of these five billion, a part will go to essential defense spending" so France had "the means to support Ukraine" against Russia and rearm itself, she added.
France has struggled to tame its debt, with the deficit remaining well above the 3% of GDP limit set for members of the eurozone. Prime Minister François Bayrou's government has promised to wrench the deficit down to 5.4% of GDP this year, with the goal of getting back under 3% in 2029.
France's debt rose by another €202.7 billion to €3.3 trillion ($3.55 trillion) last year, accounting for 113% of the country's GDP, according to the national statistics agency INSEE.
Moody's has, so far, rated France's debt as Aa3 with a stable outlook, while fellow ratings agencies S&P and Fitch have put it at AA- with a negative outlook.