France’s Court of Auditors has criticised the escalating public debt accumulated by the country during the pandemic so far and has called for a vigorous restructuring of the country’s public finances.

Along with Italy, Belgium and Spain, France is one of the Eurogroup countries whose public finances have been adversely affected by the Coronavirus crisis, the Court of Auditors said in its annual report published on Wednesday.

With a national debt of around 113 per cent, structural problems now loom for France in spite of  the economy’s strong recent recovery, the report said.

The French Government’s plans risked creating an even greater divergence between France and Germany, where debt controls suspended during the pandemic was due to come back into effect from 2023, according to the report.

The Court criticised further tax cuts and proposed spending increases planned for later this year.

In order to limit public spending during the next few years, the report said that several reforms were urgently needed in areas such as pensions, health insurance, housing and unemployment insurance.