The circular is intended to prepare budget conferences, which will take place starting next week, to initiate the budget development process. “Balancing this priority with the necessary control of public accounts requires choices,” the text continues. As a result, “ministerial budgets outside the ‘Defense’ mission must generally decrease in value compared to the initial finance law (LFI) for 2026” and “the control of staff numbers established in the LFI for 2026 must be strengthened.”
The circular also states that “any new measure that impacts the trajectory must be offset by equivalent savings measures in expenditures.”
“Control” of “Staff”
Regarding staff numbers, “given demographic trends that may justify measured renewal of natural departures, you are asked to propose control of your staff numbers,” the circular indicates. The government must make decisions in the coming months on credit ceilings for each ministry for the upcoming year, with the aim of publishing them by mid-July. In the 2026 budget, Defense credits are increasing by 6.5 billion, while other “missions” see their budgets stagnate or decrease, excluding sovereign ministries.
