France unveiled a 2027 budget on Thursday with 43 billion euros in new belt-tightening measures as part of a fiscal effort to cut spending by a total of 54 billion euros.
The budget squeeze aims at cutting the deficit to 5 percent of gross domestic product in 2027 from an estimated 5.4 percent this year and calming the increasingly cautious bond investors before next year's presidential election.
The proposals would freeze public-sector pay, limit pension increases except for the lowest pensions, restrain growth in local government and health spending, and scale back tax breaks on employers' social security contributions. Finance Minister Roland Lescure said the plan would put France's public finances back on a path of fiscal consolidation.
However, the government is set to face an uphill battle in pushing its budget through due to record debt, rising borrowing costs and a divided parliament. Lescure said the government is open to negotiating individual measures but intends to hold to its deficit target of 5 percent of GDP.
France's public debt reached 119 percent of GDP at the end of June, according to national statistics agency INSEE. The government expects it to rise to 121.7 percent in 2027, more than double the European Union' 60 percent reference level.
The yield on France' benchmark 10-year government bond reached nearly 5 percent on Thursday, its highest since 2002. The government forecasts interest costs on public debt rising to 91.2 billion euros in 2027 from 79.2 billion euros this year.
France's 2027 budget faces tough parliamentary test as borrowing costs climb
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang attended the inauguration ceremony of China National Data Group Co., Ltd., a new state-owned enterprise (SOE) directly administered by the central government, in Xiongan New Area, north China's Hebei Province, on Tuesday.
Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the establishment of the enterprise is of great significance for seizing opportunities in artificial intelligence, accelerating the building of Digital China, and fostering new competitive advantages for the country.
Headquartered in Xiongan New Area, the newly established enterprise is tasked with specializing in the development and utilization of data resources.
It is positioned as a national team for data services, a leader in data infrastructure connectivity and a strategic force for national data sci-tech innovation.
Ding urged the enterprise to improve data-related services, accelerate the development of data infrastructure, step up efforts to achieve breakthroughs in key and core technologies, and play a strategic, leading and supporting role in the data sector.
He also called on relevant government departments to step up support, local authorities to ensure the necessary resources, and related enterprises to strengthen cooperation to build a concerted effort to promote the development of the data industry.
Ding also inspected Xiongan New Area. During the inspection tour, he stressed the need to firmly adhere to the area's functional positioning and advance the relocation of Beijing's non-capital functions to Xiongan more effectively and in an orderly manner. He also called for stronger policy support and services to take the high-quality development of the area to a new level.
Chinese vice premier attends inauguration of state-owned enterprise focused on data
