Debt: faced with the “worrying” rise in interest rates, David Amiel calls for “collective recovery”

The Minister of Public Accounts David Amiel considered that the increase in interest rates on which France borrows is “worrying” and called on the political class to “collectively pull together” to adopt the 2027 budget and reduce the deficit. “We are not in a financial crisis, but obviously the situation is very worrying,” the minister declared on Saturday, interviewed on France Inter as the 10-year borrowing rate approached 5% this week.

“Interest rates have increased by one point since July”, or “one point increase in the interest rate on the French debt, if it were ever stabilized, that would mean 36 billion euros in additional interest charges every year in the long term. “It’s three times the budget of the Ministry of Justice,” he explained. These interest rates have “not only an effect on public accounts”, but “also on economic life” since behind them are “interest rates which increase for companies which need to invest, for individuals who need consumer credit or real estate credit”, according to the minister.

“Urgency to act”

An interest rate point on a mortgage that requires, for example, borrowing 200,000 euros means a monthly payment that increases by 100 euros per month, he gave as an example. “This is the reason why (...) we need a budget which reduces the deficit also to reduce interest rates,” said David Amiel, adding that there was “urgency to act”.

“The first hours of debate in the Finance Commission led, in a few hours, to a deterioration of the deficit by almost 4 billion euros. Indeed, there must be a collective pull together,” according to the minister. The deputies almost unanimously rejected the “revenue” part of the state budget for 2027 in committee on Friday, but without immediate consequences since the text returns to the hemicycle on Tuesday in the government's initial version.