France's Court of Auditors warns of serious negative consequences of nation's budget problems

As head of the French Court of Auditors Pierre Moscovici said on Wednesday, France must get its public finances back on track this year. Otherwise, pressure from financial markets will follow.

Last year, the growth of the French budget deficit surpassed the figures of all other eurozone countries, and as a result of political turmoil, a prompt solution to the problem wasn't possible to be found.

According to Moscovici, the country is currently facing a choice between voluntary efforts now and austerity tomorrow.

As a first step towards returning the budget deficit to the EU limit of 3% of GDP by 2029, the government intends to reduce the deficit to 5.4% of GDP from 5.8% last year. This goal was characterized by Moscovici as “achievable but fragile.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said he would submit plans to reduce the budget deficit to 4.6% by mid-July. It is expected to include 40 billion euros in spending cuts.

However, Moscovici noted that simply meeting the EU target may not be enough to avert a debt crisis, as France's debt interest payments will become the largest budget expense by the end of the decade.