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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Macron Faces Fresh Test as Outlook for French Finances Dims | Macron Faces Fresh Test as Outlook for French Finances Dims |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| To the list of challenges facing President Emmanuel Macron after raucous nationwide demonstrations over his pension measures, add a new one: a cascade of warnings over France’s finances. | To the list of challenges facing President Emmanuel Macron after raucous nationwide demonstrations over his pension measures, add a new one: a cascade of warnings over France’s finances. |
| On Friday, S&P Global cautioned that it still had a negative outlook on France’s creditworthiness. It was a step short of a downgrade, which some had expected, but comes after two other ratings agencies have lowered their view of the country in the past month. | On Friday, S&P Global cautioned that it still had a negative outlook on France’s creditworthiness. It was a step short of a downgrade, which some had expected, but comes after two other ratings agencies have lowered their view of the country in the past month. |
| S&P Global maintained its investment-grade credit rating for France, a decision that Mr. Macron’s government had eagerly awaited. But in restating a negative outlook first published in January, the ratings agency cited concern about France’s ability to rein in its public finances amid already elevated general government debt. | S&P Global maintained its investment-grade credit rating for France, a decision that Mr. Macron’s government had eagerly awaited. But in restating a negative outlook first published in January, the ratings agency cited concern about France’s ability to rein in its public finances amid already elevated general government debt. |
| And it added to concern among analysts about Mr. Macron’s ability, in a tense social and political climate, to move forward with his efforts to lift the country’s competitiveness and growth. | And it added to concern among analysts about Mr. Macron’s ability, in a tense social and political climate, to move forward with his efforts to lift the country’s competitiveness and growth. |
| France’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said in an interview late Friday published in the Journal du Dimanche that he viewed the announcement as a “positive signal,” adding: “Our public finance strategy is clear. It is ambitious. And it is believable.” | |
| At the end of April, Fitch Ratings cut France’s sovereign credit rating by one notch, to AA–, after a downgrade in December. Scope Ratings, a European agency, put a negative outlook on its assessment of France last month. |