Macron said to consider cuts to US$34bil infrastructure plan

PARIS: Emmanuel Macron’s government is considering trimming its infrastructure-investment program as the president fights to reduce French public spending, according to an official document seen by Bloomberg.

France is due to spend about 30 billion euros (US$34bil) through 2025 on projects such as the Lyon-Turin rail tunnel and the Seine Nord Europe canal, which would allow barge traffic from Belgium to reach Paris, as well as extensions to the French highway network. Those plans could be delayed or scaled back, the document showed, though the express train linking Charles-de-Gaulle airport with the center of the French capital is outside the portfolio of projects up for review.

France’s national auditor is due to publish a report yesterday that may show the government missing its target for this year’s budget deficit because of rising spending in the final months of Francois Hollande’s administration. A succession of ministers including the premier, Edouard Philippe, have warned that cuts may be needed.

All ministries “will be expected to make sacrifices,” Christophe Castaner, cabinet minister and government spokesman, said on Wednesday. “The best way to control the deficit is through cutting spending, not raising taxes.”

The budget situation puts Macron in a delicate position since he’s pledged to build France a reputation for fiscal probity with its European allies, but also promised tax cuts for businesses in the medium term.

France has spent about two billion euros a year on infrastructure investment since 2014, according to the funding agency’s website.

That’s set to rise to 3.5 billion next year and peak at nearly four billion euros a year in 2020 and 2021, the government document showed. The investment programme is due to be completed in 2025.— Bloomberg