France Aims to Control Fiscal Deficit Amid Economic Challenges

France's Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, reiterated on Wednesday that despite the economic strain from the Iran conflict, the French government plans to keep this year's fiscal deficit at 5% of GDP and reduce it to below 3% by 2029. According to Jin10, Le Maire stated that the budget proposal for next year will not include any tax increases for individuals or businesses. However, he mentioned that the French National Assembly or Senate might discuss imposing a special tax on energy giant TotalEnergies in the future. Le Maire noted, "I am not opposed to this." He added, "However, please note that the Prime Minister has made it very clear that we will not address the fiscal deficit issue through tax increases, so we aim to submit a budget proposal without tax hikes."