S&P downgraded France's sovereign credit rating from AA to AA, the first of its kind since 2013, which the US agency attributed to France's "deteriorating budget situation."
According to S&P Global Ratings, "France's budget deficit in 2023 was much higher than expected." The agency estimated that the post-2027 budget deficit would remain above the 3 percent threshold of GDP.
The French government expects the public debt ratio to fall below 3 percent of GDP by 2027, but S&P said these figures are not realistic, as the French public deficit in 2027 will be at 3.5 percent of GDP.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)