This illustration photo taken in Toulouse on October 14, 2025, shows the S&P Global rating agency logo and screens displaying signs of the ratings used by rating agencies. LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP
Credit agency S&P said on Friday, October 17, it had cut its rating for France to A+ from AA, citing risks that the government would fail to significantly reduce its deficit next year.
"Despite this week's submission of the 2026 draft budget to the parliament, uncertainty on France's government finances remains elevated," S&P said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to push deep spending cuts through a divided parliament where his centrist party and its allies do not have a majority. His new Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, hoping to avoid being ousted by a no-confidence vote, backtracked this week on a widely contested pension reform that would have pushed the official retirement age to 64 from 62.
"While, in our view, the 2025 general government budget deficit target of 5.4% of GDP will be met, we believe that, in the absence of significant additional budget deficit-reducing measures, the budgetary consolidation over our forecast horizon will be slower than previously expected," S&P said.
