Europe | Steady on

France unveils a stable budget for 2023

But the government has yet to get a grip on public spending

French Minister for the Economy and Finances Bruno Le Maire arrives to attend the weekly cabinet meeting at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on August 31, 2022. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)

Sep 29th 2022|PARIS

AMID market turmoil in Britain and political uncertainty in Italy, France looks like an oasis of relative stability. On September 26th Bruno Le Maire, the finance minister, unveiled the government’s budget for 2023, which was broadly in line with previous ones. It was his sixth; indeed Mr Le Maire now holds the record for the longest consecutive period in office for a finance minister under the French Fifth Republic. Such consistency, however, will not spare France a difficult autumn, nor close scrutiny of its public finances.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Steady on”