This illustration photo taken in Toulouse on October 14, 2025, shows the S&P Global rating agency logo and screens displaying signs of the ratings used by rating agencies. LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP
Credit agency S&P said on Friday, October 17, it had cut its rating for France to A+ from AA, citing risks that the government would fail to significantly reduce its deficit next year.
“Despite this week’s submission of the 2026 draft budget to the parliament, uncertainty on France’s government finances remains elevated,” S&P said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to push deep spending cuts through a divided parliament where his centrist party and its allies do not have a majority. His new Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, hoping to avoid being ousted by a no-confidence vote, backtracked this week on a widely contested pension reform that would have pushed the official retirement age to 64 from 62.
“While, in our view, the 2025 general government budget deficit target of 5.4% of GDP will be met, we believe that, in the absence of significant additional budget deficit-reducing measures, the budgetary consolidation over our forecast horizon will be slower than previously expected,” S&P said.
In response to the downgrade, Finance Minister Roland Lescure said the government “reaffirms its determination to meet the deficit target of 5.4% of GDP for 2025.”
“It is now the collective responsibility of both the government and parliament to ensure the adoption of a budget consistent with this framework,” he said in a statement.
The finance ministry said separately that the government had submitted a draft budget for 2026 “which aims to accelerate the reduction of the public deficit to 4.7% of GDP while preserving growth.”
Subscription
€2.49€/month for the first year
Get unlimited access to Le Monde in English articles.
Find out more
New
Le Monde’s app
Get the most out of your experience: download the app to enjoy Le Monde in English anywhere, anytime
Download
Help us improve Le Monde in English
Dear reader,
We’d love to hear your thoughts on Le Monde in English! Take this quick survey to help us improve it for you.
Take the survey
“This is a key step that will enable us to meet France’s commitment to bring the public deficit below 3% of GDP in 2029,” the ministry added. “It is now the collective responsibility of the government and Parliament to ensure that a budget is adopted within this framework before the end of 2025.”