The government announced on Tuesday, April 21, that €6 billion of expenses could be halted to offset the cost of the Middle East war, following a meeting on public finances at Bercy. Minister of Action and Public Accounts, David Amiel, stated that savings would amount to €4 billion for the State, and €2 billion “in the social sphere”, without further details. More announcements are expected later at Matignon regarding assistance in response to rising fuel prices.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu requested on Tuesday that his government implement “additional spending restraint measures” of €4 billion within ministerial budgets, in a letter to his ministers. This announcement came after a financial alert committee meeting at Bercy, attended by Economy Minister Roland Lescure. The Middle East war has caused an increase in interest rates and thus the debt burden, currently costing around €3.6 billion, as noted by Roland Lescure.

In total, considering the impact of inflation on social security contributions relief, state-supported indexed expenses, and military-related costs, “the total cost of this crisis could amount to at least €6 billion, to date”, detailed Sébastien Lecornu in his letter to ministers. The Minister of Public Accounts warned that “any new public expenditure made necessary by the energetic crisis” would result in “cancellation of a planned expense, to the nearest euro”, in order to “meet [the] objectives for 2026″.

The government has already announced €130 million in crisis support expenses. Under the energy crisis impact, the executive also recently revised down its growth forecast in mid-April to 0.9% in 2026 (from an initial 1%) and increased its inflation forecast to 1.9% (from 1.3%)