Editorial: Le Monde

• France's sovereign rating was downgraded from AA to AA - by the Standard & Poor's (S&P) agency.
• This decrease is due to a chaotic budget sequence and the government's poor appreciation of stalling growth.
• The government has announced 20 billion euros in savings yet to be detailed.
• S&P is concerned about the increasing debt-to-GDP ratio in France, compared to other eurozone countries that are reducing their debt.
• Economy and finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, still aims to reduce debt to less than 3% of GDP by 2027.
• The downgrade could justify budget cuts, but also harms the economic credibility of the government, which claimed to contain deficits by boosting growth.
• This downgrade may give the impression that the current government has not achieved improvements over its predecessors.
• France appears to be blocked, without financial leeway, damaging Emmanuel Macron's European leadership.

Conclusion: The warning from S&P serves to mark the lightness on budgetary matters of the government, but it is also a wake-up call for the entire country and future leaders. The questions that Macron can't answer will remain.

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