The deficit for the 2023 financial year reached €706 million, as of 30 September 2023. Photos: Shutterstock

The deficit for the 2023 financial year reached €706 million, as of 30 September 2023. Photos: Shutterstock

At the third meeting of parliament’s finance committee this week, finance minister Gilles Roth (CSV) presented the state of the country’s public finances. Revenues are rising, but at a slower rate than expenditure.

At a joint session of the finance committee and the budget implementation committee of the Chamber of Deputies on 1 December, finance minister  (CSV) outlined the state of public finances at the end of September 2023.

At 30 September 2023, total central government revenues amounted to €18.6bn. Revenue collected by the tax authorities alone amounted to €15.9bn, representing an increase of €747m (+5%) and corresponding to 74.7% of the revenue in the budget voted. In October, it represented 83.9% of the voted budget and showed an increase of 8% compared with the same period in 2022.

Expenditure up by 15%

On the other hand, total central government expenditure rose by 15% to €19.3bn. This increase is attributed to “the assistance provided by the state in the context of the crisis and the impact on expenditure of successive increments.”

At the end of the third quarter of 2023, revenue and expenditure combined will result in a deficit of €706m for the government. This deficit was reduced to €629m by 31 October “as a result of the slight improvement in tax revenues observed during the month.”

This article was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.

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