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France plans record €340 billion bond issuance in 2027 ahead of budget

France's debt agency AFT said it will borrow a record €340 billion on bond markets in 2027, €28 billion more than this year, two days before the 2027 budget is presented. Both outlets link it to Covid-era debt falling due and high borrowing rates.

2 outlets · 0L · 2C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: France 24
Image: RFI

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The story, neutrally told

France's debt agency, Agence France Trésor (AFT), said on Tuesday 29 September that it plans to borrow €340 billion on the bond market in 2027. The money is to finance government spending and repay debt coming due, and AFT said it would issue a mix of medium- and long-term bonds. The announcement came two days before the government is due to present its 2027 budget.

French 10-year bonds traded at about 4.8 percent, a level last seen around the 2008 financial crisis, while the government's 2027 forecast assumes 4.3 percent. RFI reported that Insee put public debt at a record €3.596 trillion at end-June, 119 percent of GDP, and that the government expects over 121 percent in 2027. The deficit was 5.1 percent of GDP last year and is forecast at 5.4 percent this year, against an EU ceiling of 3 percent.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has pledged to cut the deficit without austerity, and RFI says he aims for 5 percent in 2027. According to economist Pascal de Lima, only €10 billion of the promised €54 billion in savings has been detailed, and he called Thursday's budget a test of credibility. Both outlets note that elections, less than a year away, make spending cuts hard to pass.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.

Left0 outlets

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Centre2 outlets

Framing
Both outlets present the record issuance as a sign of fiscal strain, tied to maturing Covid-era debt, high yields and a difficult budget. France 24 is a short market-focused report; RFI adds debt, inflation, strike and political context.
Emphasis
Borrowing costs, deficit overshoot and political constraints on spending cuts; RFI adds an economist's view and inflation and strike details.
Leaves out or plays down
Neither carries a government or AFT response beyond Lecornu's earlier pledge; France 24 omits the debt-to-GDP figures and the savings shortfall that RFI reports.
Charged language
“surging public deficit”“borrowing test”
For example
“amid mounting concern about France's surging public deficit and borrowing rates” — France 24
“ministers are under pressure to slash spending” — RFI

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.