Fitch Ratings revised France’s long‑term issuer default rating (IDR) outlook to negative from stable on 31 October 2026, while affirming an A+ rating, Xinhua reported.
The downgrade comes amid weaker economic growth, higher borrowing costs and a widening budget deficit, the agency said, noting that France’s large, diversified economy, strong institutions, euro‑area membership and resilient banking sector still underpin the rating level.
Fitch cut its forecasts for France’s real GDP growth to 0.5 percent in 2026 and 0.9 percent in 2027, down from 0.8 percent and 1.1 percent respectively, citing lower data from the first half of 2026. It added that France’s GDP contracted 0.1 percent in the third quarter of 2026 according to preliminary data from the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.
Regarding fiscal dynamics, the agency forecasted the public debt‑to‑GDP ratio to rise from 115.7 percent in 2025 to about 124 percent in 2028, up from its prior forecast of 122.7 percent. Fitch also noted that a large share of public spending is politically difficult to curb and that the tax burden is already high, offering little room for revenue growth.
Fitch observed that the French government projected in late September that the 2027 budget deficit would be 6.4 percent of GDP without additional consolidation measures, higher than its earlier projection of 5.9 percent. The draft 2027 budget targets a 5.0 percent deficit and involves politically sensitive measures.