French debt surges to new record, but IMF intervention ruled out
French debt is rising, and rising very quickly. Despite the government's efforts, the freezing of certain funds and promises of massive savings, France's public debt increased by another €40.5 billion in just three months, reaching €3.346 trillion at the end of March, according to figures released on Thursday, June 26, by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE,). In one year, the debt, described by Prime Minister François Bayrou as the country's public enemy number one, grew by €185 billion, or 6%.
Could this massive debt burden soon force France under the supervision of Brussels, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)? Could this troika impose an austerity plan on France, as happened to Greece in the 2010s when it was revealed the country had falsified its accounts and its budget deficit was three times higher than the official figure?
For several weeks, the government has been wielding this dramatic threat as Bayrou prepares to unveil highly anticipated fiscal recovery measures, expected after July 14. "If we do not make these choices now, our creditors or the IMF will impose them on us," warned Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin in Le Journal du Dimanche on June 7. "This is the last moment to be courageous." De Montchalin hammered home the message again on radio station RTL on June 10: "There is a risk of being placed under the supervision of international institutions, European institutions or our creditors."
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