Regarding the sanitation of public finances, and “with unchanged policy,” the French public deficit is expected to be 3% of GDP in 2017 and climb to 3.2% in 2018, warns the European Commission in its new economic forecasts.
These estimates are less favorable than those published last February. Brussels had then predicted a public deficit of 2.9% in 2017 and 3.1% in 2018. As for public debt, it is expected to continue growing to reach 96.4% in 2017 and 96.7% in 2018, whereas it should not exceed 60% according to European rules.
On the growth front, economic activity is expected to “accelerate gradually,” particularly thanks to the recovery of global trade, the Commission highlights. Growth is thus expected to reach 1.4% in 2017 and 1.7% in 2018. However, this is below the eurozone average, estimated at 1.7% in 2017 and 1.8% in 2018.
