“France’s delayed 2025 budget bill will aim for a deficit of “just above 5%” to protect growth.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
France’s delayed 2025 budget bill will aim for a deficit of “just above 5%” to protect growth. This was stated by the country’s new finance minister, Eric Lombard, reports “Europa Pravda” with reference to Reuters. Eric Lombard, who previously headed the Caisse des Depots, the French government’s investment arm, will be tasked with shepherding the budget through parliament after the previous government faced a no-confidence vote in early December amid backlash over his austerity proposals. Lombard’s deficit target for next year is higher than the 5% targeted by the previous government. But it will still be lower than this year, when the deficit is expected to rise to more than 6 percent of gross domestic product.Advertisement: “We need to amend this (budget) bill to create a good budget. With a deficit slightly higher 5% to protect growth,” Lombard said. “To protect growth, deficit reduction must come more from cuts in public spending than from taxation,” he said, adding that any tax increase would have to be “very limited.” He said he would hold consultations with all political parties in the French parliament, and that those discussions would feed into the government’s budget proposals.Advertisement: Lombard was appointed last Monday as a member of Prime Minister Francois Bairro’s government. Bayrou, who like his predecessor Michel Barnier does not have a working majority in parliament, said he intends to prepare a budget by mid-February. On December 23, France formed the government of the country’s new prime minister, François Bayrou, and announced the names of the ministers. Read also: Macron’s forced choice: what Ukraine can expect from the new French prime minister. European truth