Marine Le Pen pledges 140 billion euros in spending cuts and 30 billion euros in tax reductions by 2032

Fiscal deficit and spending reduction targets

Marine Le Pen presented the National Rally economic program for the 2027 presidential election during a press conference at the party headquarters in Paris on 6 October 2026. Flanked by party president Jordan Bardella and budget specialist Jean-Philippe Tanguy, Le Pen asserted that France risked sovereign default without structural fiscal correction. Her platform proposes 140 billion euros in net public expenditure cuts by 2032 relative to 2026 baseline figures. The party aims to reduce the public deficit below 3% of GDP by 2030, compared to the French government forecast of 5.4% in 2026 and 5% in the 2027 draft budget. Under her timeline, France would restore its primary budget balance, which excludes debt servicing obligations, within 18 months of taking office.

If the French do not choose a political rupture, France is heading towards default.

Pensions, taxation, and structural spending cuts

The economic blueprint includes 30 billion euros in net tax reductions across the five-year presidential term while seeking to lower public debt from 119% of GDP to 112%. To fund spending priorities and lower the standard retirement age to 62 or 60 years, the platform projects between 15 billion and 20 billion euros in savings through structural pension adjustments. Le Pen stated that these savings would accompany the introduction of an individual and collective capitalization pillar to supplement the existing pay-as-you-go system. Targeted spending reductions also include an 8.9 billion euro net reduction in France's contribution to the European Union budget. Additional reductions are slated across state operational agencies, local government expenditures, and immigration-related outlays.

I also confirm to you that we will present a comprehensive reform of individual and collective capitalization, and that I will soon propose the creation of a genuine capitalization pillar.

Constitutional golden rule and central bank intervention

Le Pen proposed introducing a constitutional golden rule through a national referendum during the first year of a presidential term to require annual debt reduction. She argued that this constitutional mechanism would legally bind future governments to permanent fiscal restraint. In addition, Le Pen stated that the European Central Bank must intervene to lower borrowing costs for member states, freeing fiscal capacity for sovereign strategic investments. She outlined that such monetary easing would enable capital allocation toward national defence capabilities and technological modernization. On environmental policy, the platform commits to achieving carbon neutrality before 2050, identifying accumulated ecological debt as an urgent risk.

The ECB must intervene so that Eurozone countries free up financial leeway to invest in our sovereignty, namely defence and technological catch-up.

Bond market movements and political context

During the 46-minute presentation, party officials cited financial market reactions as French 10-year government bond yields moved from 4.867% to 4.763%. Jean-Philippe Tanguy and Jordan Bardella attributed this yield decline to market confidence in their economic announcements. Financial analysts, including Alexandre Baradez at IG, noted that the drop aligned with broader European bond yield decreases across Germany, Spain, and Italy that began earlier in the trading day. Spanish 10-year yields moved from 4.12% to 4.07%, while Italian 10-year yields dropped from 4.65% to 4.52%. The press conference took place six months before the presidential election and followed controversy surrounding Mediapart allegations concerning Bardella, which he has denied.