Budget: Lecornu asks his ministers to "correct" the department's requests

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is asking ministers to "correct" the demands of their administrations and to identify "real political priorities" for the 2027 budget project, in a letter to them revealed by Les Echos on Saturday, June 13.

"As part of the preparation of the draft budget law for 2027, the budgeting conferences have revealed more than 30 billion in funding requests, including 24 billion to implement new expenditures," the head of government wrote in this letter seen by AFP.

These requests from the services would lead "to the creation of more than 23.000 jobs (for the State and its operators, editor's note) as early as next year and around 40.000 over the period 2027-2029", emphasizes the letter, whose subject is explicitly titled "Framework letter for the preparation of the draft finance law for 2027".

Regretting "budgetary demands (...) clearly not prioritized", and "unrealistic", he further believes that they "fail to recognize the urgency of restoring public finances", "a determining element of our sovereignty, a fortiori in the current geopolitical and macroeconomic context".

This comes in a context where the government has promised to present a budget without tax increases.

"I therefore ask you to take back control of the requests made by your administrations and to correct them. Your discussions with the Minister of Public Action and Accounts will help to identify real political priorities, but also productivity gains and transformations (...) It is on the basis of this work that I will make my decisions," Mr. Lecornu continued.

"We need to be serious," "I'm counting on you," he insists.

The letter was sent to the ministers mid-week, at the start of a three-week round of bilateral discussions between the Minister for Public Accounts, David Amiel, and his colleagues.

The government is due to present the outlines of the 2027 budget in mid-July. Before that, a public finance alert committee is scheduled for the end of June, which could be an opportunity to announce further budget cuts as the war in the Middle East weighs on the economic situation.

The Bank of France is due to present its updated forecasts for French growth on Tuesday, which are expected to be lower than the initial forecast of 0,9% in 2026.

The government is currently forecasting a deficit of 5% of GDP this year, after 5,1% in 2025.