PARIS (Reuters) – France is at risk of running a substantially bigger budget deficit than planned this year if extra savings are not found due to a shortfall in tax revenue, French media reported on Monday.
The finance ministry sent lawmakers an update on Monday on the budget situation that they had been demanding for weeks, centrist member of parliament Charles de Courson told Reuters.
The document indicated that the public sector budget deficit is at risk of reaching 5.6% of economic output this year rather than the 5.1% targeted by France’s current caretaker government, newspaper Le Monde and Les Echos reported.
Value added sales tax, income tax and corporate tax were all coming in weaker than expected, Le Monde quoted the document as saying.
Les Echos said that extra budget savings worth 15 billion euros ($16.6 billion) would need to be found to keep the deficit target in reach.
The deteriorating budget situation adds pressure on President Emmanuel Macron as he struggles to name a new government since a snap legislative election in early July produced a hung parliament.
The current outgoing government has had to prepare a budget that is likely to be reworked by its successor when it is finally formed.
As the political stalemate drags on, lawmakers in the lower house of parliament’s finance commission have accused the finance ministry of withholding key financial data they need to prepare for budget legislation.
($1 = 0.9033 euros)
(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Leigh Thomas; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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