Open AccessFrench public finances at risk?
Author(s) -
Jérôme Creel,
Philippe Hubert,
Francesco Saraceno
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
panoeconomicus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.289
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 2217-2386
pISSN - 1452-595X
DOI - 10.2298/pan1401001c
Subject(s) - debt , consolidation (business) , position (finance) , government (linguistics) , public finance , economics , public expenditure , fiscal sustainability , public spending , economic policy , sustainability , public economics , political science , finance , macroeconomics , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , politics , biology , law
Using descriptive evidence, this paper contributes to the debate on French public finances’ consolidation by examining the long-term sustainability of France’s fiscal position. We trace the historical trends of government’s tax receipts and expenditures. We illustrate that while the level of public expenditure in France is larger than in the Euro Area, its trend is comparable to its neighbours. French net debt is comparable to Eurozone’s while French net wealth remains positive. However, the French tax system is not progressive with only 6% of compulsory levies raised that way, and too complex. The paper then acknowledges the efficient debt management of French authorities. As a conclusion, we see no risk of future unsustainability linked to the nature or the level of current French public finances