The cost of servicing France's national debt jumped 18.3% between June 2025 and June 2026, adding more than 5 billion euros to public spending just as the government tries to bring down the deficit, according to a document published on Tuesday, August 4, by Bercy, the French finance ministry.
Debt-servicing costs rose from 29.2 billion euros cumulated over the first six months of 2025 to 34.5 billion euros over the same period in 2026, an increase of 5.3 billion euros, according to figures in the ministry's monthly budget summary for June.
Bercy said the rise in debt costs was linked to higher interest rates.
Interest rates and oil prices
Interest rates climbed sharply early in the year because of inflation triggered by the war in the Middle East, which sent oil prices higher. Bercy is the finance ministry's common name, taken from the Paris district where it is based.
Overall, the state budget ran a deficit of 106.8 billion euros in the first half of the year, 6.4 billion euros more than at the end of June 2025, a shortfall that has widened by almost the same amount as the rise in debt-servicing costs.
Deficit target in doubt
The government wants to limit the public deficit to 5% of gross domestic product this year, down from 5.1% last year, which had already made it the second-highest in the eurozone behind Belgium's 5.2%.
That goal now looks difficult to reach. Economy Minister Roland Lescure acknowledged in early July that the target appeared unlikely to be met, while Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in an interview with Paris Match on July 22 that he was not very optimistic.
Lecornu pointed to energy prices and increased military activity in the Gulf as reasons for his pessimism. The consequences of the large wildfires in southwest France could add further strain to the public finances.
