Overview
- Scope Ratings lowered France’s long-term sovereign score from AA- to A+ and moved the outlook from negative to stable.
- The agency cited a durable deterioration in budgetary prospects driven by rising public debt, persistent high deficits and limited progress on structural reforms.
- The downgrade was announced on Friday after the government set out the main lines of its 2027 budget, which targets a 5 percent deficit and about €54 billion of measures.
- Markets have already priced higher borrowing costs for France, with 10-year yields near 4.5 percent in mid-September, which Scope said will constrain the government’s room to manoeuvre.
- Political fragmentation since the 2024 dissolution of the National Assembly is a central concern for Scope because it hinders passing reforms and could keep fiscal pressure high through the 2027 election.