Standard & Poor’s ratings agency downgraded France’s credit rating late Friday in an unscheduled update that cited “elevated” uncertainty on public finances after the government pledged to suspend pension reform.
“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 as it lowered its sovereign rating on France by one notch to A+/A-1 from AA-/A-1+. The outlook is stable.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence motions in parliament on Thursday after committing to suspend an unpopular law that raised the age of retirement.
The freeze of the pensions law until the next presidential election in 2027 was significant concession to the Socialist Party. Retirement reform was considered a flagship achievement for French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Uncertainty on public finances remains elevated ahead of the 2027 presidential elections,” S&P said in its statement. “One example of this is the new government’s decision to suspend France’s landmark pension reform, originally introduced into law in 2023,” it said.
S&P projects France’s economic growth will be 0.7 percent this year, and forecasts a “muted recovery” in 2026.
“Additional risks to our growth forecast are considerable, particularly given the possibility of a pass-through of higher government borrowing costs into the cost of financing for the rest of the French economy,” the rating agency said.
“While, in our view, the 2025 general government budget deficit target of 5.4 percent 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.
“We expect gross general government debt to reach 121 percent of GDP in 2028, compared with 112 percent of GDP at the end of last year,” the rating agency said.
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