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Bank of France Chief: France Could Reduce Deficit to EU Limit in 5 Years

A man rides an electric Lime bicycle on a bike path past the Hotel des Invalides in Paris, France, September 23, 2024. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
A man rides an electric Lime bicycle on a bike path past the Hotel des Invalides in Paris, France, September 23, 2024. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
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Bank of France Chief: France Could Reduce Deficit to EU Limit in 5 Years

A man rides an electric Lime bicycle on a bike path past the Hotel des Invalides in Paris, France, September 23, 2024. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
A man rides an electric Lime bicycle on a bike path past the Hotel des Invalides in Paris, France, September 23, 2024. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor

It is not realistic for France to lower its deficit to 3% of GDP within three years but it could be possible within five years with the right course of action, Bank of France head Francois Villeroy de Galhau on Wednesday.
"Three years is not realistic, not economically or with regards to growth. But to do it in five years is possible," Villeroy, who is also a policymaker at the European Central Bank, told France 2 TV.
Earlier this week, French finance minister Antoine Armand said the country's budget deficit was one of its worst in history. The government currently expects a 2024 budget deficit of 5.1% of GDP - above the European Union's limit of 3%.
Prime Minister Michel Barnier has suggested he would be open to raising taxes on the wealthy and some corporations as the country struggles to contain the deficit. Spending cuts are also expected, which Villeroy said in the interview that he supported, according to Reuters.
One of the first hurdles for France's new government will be steering a budget for 2025 through an unruly hung parliament.
In rare good news for the new government, consumer confidence improved for the third straight month in September, topping analysts' expectations, official INSEE data showed.
An increase in the proportion of households feeling that the present is a good time to make big purchases, as well as growing optimism over the ability to save money, helped drive the index up two points to 95, still below the long-term average.
Fears about unemployment also fell.
In a sign of investor concerns about the new government's ability to tackle the high budget deficit, France's borrowing costs briefly rose above Spain's on Tuesday for the first time since 2008.

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US Economy Grew at Solid 3% Rate Last Quarter, Government Says in Final Estimate

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
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US Economy Grew at Solid 3% Rate Last Quarter, Government Says in Final Estimate

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

The American economy expanded at a healthy 3% annual pace from April through June, boosted by strong consumer spending and business investment, the government said Thursday, leaving its previous estimate unchanged.
The Commerce Department reported that the nation's gross domestic product — the nation's total output of goods and services — picked up sharply in the second quarter from the tepid 1.6% annual rate in the first three months of the year, The Associated Press reported.
Consumer spending, the primary driver of the economy, grew last quarter at a 2.8% pace, down slightly from the 2.9% rate the government had previously estimated. Business investment was also solid: It increased at a vigorous 8.3% annual pace last quarter, led by a 9.8% rise in investment in equipment.
The final GDP estimate for the April-June quarter included figures showing that inflation continues to ease, to just above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The central bank’s favored inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE — rose at a 2.5% annual rate last quarter, down from 3% in the first quarter of the year. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation grew at a 2.8% pace, down from 3.7% from January through March.
The US economy, the world's biggest, displayed remarkable resilience in the face of the 11 interest rate hikes the Fed carried out in 2022 and 2023 to fight the worst bout of inflation in four decades. Since peaking at 9.1% in mid-2022, annual inflation as measured by the consumer price index has tumbled to 2.5%.
Despite the surge in borrowing rates, the economy kept growing and employers kept hiring. Still, the job market has shown signs of weakness in recent months. From June through August, America's employers added an average of just 116,000 jobs a month, the lowest three-month average since mid-2020, when the COVID pandemic had paralyzed the economy. The unemployment rate has ticked up from a half-century low 3.4% last year to 4.2%, still relatively low.
Last week, responding to the steady drop in inflation and growing evidence of a more sluggish job market, the Fed cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point. The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than four years, reflected its new focus on shoring up the job market now that inflation has largely been tamed.
Some other barometers of the economy still look healthy. Americans last month increased their spending at retailers, for example, suggesting that consumers are still able and willing to spend more despite the cumulative impact of three years of excess inflation and high borrowing rates. The nation’s industrial production rebounded. The pace of single-family-home construction rose sharply from the pace a year earlier.
And this month, consumer sentiment rose for a third straight month, according to preliminary figures from the University of Michigan. The brighter outlook was driven by “more favorable prices as perceived by consumers” for cars, appliances, furniture and other long-lasting goods.
A category within GDP that measures the economy’s underlying strength rose at a healthy 2.7% annual rate, though that was down from 2.9% in the first quarter. This category includes consumer spending and private investment but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending.
Though the Fed now believes inflation is largely defeated, many Americans remain upset with still-high prices for groceries, gas, rent and other necessities. Former President Donald Trump blames the Biden-Harris administration for sparking an inflationary surge. Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn, has charged that Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on all imports would raise prices for consumers even further.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department also issued revisions to previous GDP estimates. From 2018 through 2023, growth was mostly higher — an average annual rate of 2.3%, up from a previously reported 2.1% — largely because of upward revisions to consumer spending. The revisions showed that GDP grew 2.9% last year, up from the 2.5% previously reported.
Thursday’s report was the government’s third and final estimate of GDP growth for the April-June quarter. It will release its initial estimate of July-September GDP growth on Oct. 30.