(MENAFN) French opposition parties on Monday criticized a confidential letter sent by former Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire to President Emmanuel Macron in April 2024, which highlighted concerns about escalating public expenditure.

Le Maire disclosed over the weekend that he had alerted Macron to the country’s financial situation in the “secret” letter, which was reported by French news outlets. In the letter, he recommended austerity measures to reduce the budget deficit to 4.9% in 2024 and urged an “ambitious strategy" to bring it below 3% by 2027.

"Any strategy of avoidance is doomed to failure," Le Maire wrote in the correspondence.

Eric Coquerel, chair of the National Assembly’s Finance Committee and a deputy from La France Insoumise, told a news agency that ignoring the warning constitutes “a state omission” on Macron’s part. “Looking back, it means that the budget that was presented was insincere,” he added.

Guillaume Bigot of the National Rally described the revelation as a “massive state scandal” on X, asserting that "Emmanuel Macron knew and had the overspending of public accounts concealed before the elections."

France is facing soaring public debt at 115% of GDP, coupled with one of the EU’s largest budget deficits at 5.8% of GDP.

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