France must reduce spending to cut the deficit, says economist

Breakdown

• France's budget deficit is about 6% of GDP, with high borrowing costs.
• Planned defense spending increases could widen the deficit to 9% of GDP. 25s
• The government aims to reduce the deficit to 4.6% next year, requiring further cuts. 51s
• Political fragmentation makes consensus on spending cuts difficult. 1m 6s
• Temporary measures like freezing social benefit increases may help short-term but are not structural solutions. 1m 32s