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00:00A year and a half after its initial warning following the Covid-19 crisis,
00:05American ratings agency Standard & Poor's has downgraded France's credit score
00:09after higher than expected deficits. Following the announcement, France's finance minister
00:15defended the government's spending record and pledged to get public finances back on track.
00:20You know we have committed to saving 20 billion euros on government spending by 2024
00:25and you've seen that we've started to take exceptional protective measures against inflation
00:29and Covid. We're going to continue on exactly the same path.
00:34The government is facing pressure to detail another 20 billion euros worth of savings
00:39for next year. Le Maire has promised that the decision would not change the lives of
00:43those in France, which has a high debt-to-GDP ratio in comparison to other European countries.
00:49Although lower than that of Greece and Italy, France's public debt as a percentage of GDP
00:54last year is higher than that of Germany and Bulgaria and more than five times that of
00:58Estonia's. Although S&P did not change its stable outlook for France, it has said that political
01:04fragmentation would make it hard for the government to put in place reforms needed to balance public
01:09finances. Its decision has prompted two votes of no confidence in the government from opposition
01:15parties.