War in the Middle East: Bercy specifies its budgetary savings options to offset the costs of the conflict estimated at six billion euros

More than a month after announcing its objective of saving six billion euros to offset the cost of the war in the Middle East, the government detailed its budget cuts on Thursday evening, planning in particular to freeze 3.2 billion euros in credits and cancel 847 million euros.

In addition to these approximately 4 billion euros in savings on the state budget, there are 2.2 billion euros obtained thanks to the freezing of reductions in corporate social security contributions on low salaries announced last week, for a total amount of 6.2 billion euros, according to Bercy.

The government announced in mid-April, as part of an alert committee on public finances, that 6 billion euros in savings on spending could be made in 2026 to compensate for the cost of the war, in the form of credit freezes or“targeted cancellations“.

A second alert committee will be held “end of June”said the ministry on Thursday and “will be an opportunity to take stock of the impact of the crisis on public finances and the management efforts necessary following the evolution of the conflict”.

“A date”a revision of the growth forecast for 2026, lowered in mid-April to 0.9% compared to 1% previously, is not planned, just like “the will to hold the objective” of 5% deficit, assured the Ministry of Public Accounts during a telephone press briefing. “This is precisely why we are documenting and taking these measures to curb public spending.”