French Economy Minister Roland Lescure said Friday the government has lowered its 2026 growth forecast to 0.5%, down from the 0.7% previously expected and well below the 1% assumed in this year's budget law. Matignon, the prime minister's office, is now forecasting growth of 1% for 2027.
Lescure put inflation at 2.1% for 2026, with a peak of 3% toward the end of the year, easing to 1.8% in 2027. He cautioned that the forecasts carry major uncertainties. He also said France's deficit will come in above 5% in 2026, adding that the government's earlier target of holding the deficit at 5% is no longer achievable.
Pension Overhaul Under Consideration
Public Accounts Minister David Amiel said on Sud Radio that the government does not have the first euro of the more than 6 billion euros it would take this year to index all retirement pensions to inflation.
According to TF1-LCI, three options are on the table for the next budget: freezing pensions outright, applying a partial under-indexation, or scrapping the 10% tax allowance retirees currently receive.
Amiel said any indexation of pensions to inflation would have to be financed, in proportion, by cutting that allowance partly or entirely. Indexing all pensions, he said, would mean eliminating the allowance altogether, since the move would cost more than 6 billion euros next year. Indexing only the smallest pensions would still require a very sharp cut to the allowance, matched euro for euro, he said, arguing it is impossible to keep both mechanisms without sending the deficit sharply higher.
Candidates Clash Over Cost of Living
Jordan Bardella, president of the Rassemblement National, criticized the government's handling of fuel prices during a visit to Beaucroissant, in the Isère region. He called the surge an admission of failure and powerlessness on the government's part, and an insult to working French people who need their car to get around. He said his party continues to demand lower fuel taxes, as other European countries have done, and said purchasing power will be the major issue of the campaign, pointing to French people cutting back on travel and consumption.
Fabien Roussel, the Communist candidate, called on the French to mobilize at roundabouts, in front of subprefectures, prefectures and centers of power including the Élysée and Matignon, if the government fails to act in the coming days, comparing the moment to the 2018 "yellow vest" protests. He demanded the immediate removal of the energy-saving certificate charge added to the price of gasoline since 1 January, which he put at 15 centimes per litre, and a cut in VAT on fuel from 20% to 5.5%, saying that alone would knock 30 centimes off the price of a litre of petrol.
Gabriel Attal, the Renaissance candidate, was asked about remarks by former prime minister Édouard Philippe, who suggested in a podcast that a president elected in May might not take office until September. Attal said he had not seen the podcast and was not certain what Philippe had said, but insisted France cannot afford further delay. Speaking to reporters at the "Terre de Jim" farming event organized by the Jeunes Agriculteurs union, he pointed to stagnation since 2024 while China, the United States and other powers push ahead with reform and investment.
Marine Le Pen's Political Return
Marine Le Pen, president of the RN group in the National Assembly and a presidential candidate, was due to make her political comeback on Saturday and deliver a speech Sunday from Hénin-Beaumont, her political stronghold in northern France. She was expected to try to bring order to her party's positions after weeks marked by friction over issues including aid to Ukraine and a proposed ban on the Islamic veil. Le Pen will also be interviewed by journalist Darius Rochebin on LCI on Wednesday, 16 September, at 9pm.
Unions and the Left Push Back
Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT trade union, said on LCI that the first priority is keeping the RN out of power, describing the far right as a major danger to democracy despite its claims to defend workers. She said the left should once again become the party of workers, criticizing candidates who spend their time courting big business leaders, and called for a platform centered on jobs and workers' rights. She also said Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is aiming at the wrong target by planning to cut an exceptional tax on large companies, arguing that France's 40 million workers and pensioners are the ones who can revive the economy. She linked the weaker growth forecast to an austerity policy directed at workers and public services, calling instead for higher wages and more investment.
Ségolène Royal, a candidate in the Socialist primary, said on RTL she wants to stop frightening the French with threats over pensions, arguing pensions are not what caused the deficit. She called for reviving growth and industry through climate-related investment, which she described as the backbone of an industrial recovery.
Debt Cancellation Plan Rejected
Banque de France governor Emmanuel Moulin rejected on RTL a proposal by presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon to cancel part of France's debt, calling it illegal, dangerous and useless. He said it would be illegal because it breaches European treaties, dangerous because it would fuel inflation, and useless because it would not reduce the budget deficit. He said the idea has found no support elsewhere in Europe and would ultimately push France out of the eurozone, comparing the currency bloc to a co-ownership building where members who stop paying their share get told to leave.
Government Defends Budget Strategy
Government spokesperson and Energy Minister Maud Bregeon, speaking on TF1, was asked whether the government might push the budget through using special constitutional powers or by ordinance. She said that question depends on which text and which compromise is on the table, and argued it is in no party's and no French person's interest to leave the country without a budget for 2027.
She ruled out cutting fuel taxes, saying the government is instead supporting the most exposed sectors with aid extended until the end of October, and that 1.5 million French people entitled to a 100-euro payment have not yet claimed it. She pointed to a string of unforeseen shocks, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a heatwave and drought, that need to be factored into next year's forecasts, and said the government's goal is to hold the line on spending even where it cannot control external causes.
Accelerated Electrification Plan
Separately, the government named 109 territories, covering nearly 7,000 communes and affecting more than one in four French people, for accelerated electrification. They will get priority access to a 10-billion-euro national electrification plan.
