State budget 2018 (results and management)

The Court of Auditors makes public its report on the state budget in 2018, as well as 66 analyses of budget implementation, including by mission and programme. In 2018, execution was better controlled than in previous years, notably thanks to a more sincere programming of expenditure. Despite higher-than-expected revenues, however, the government deficit has widened, as tax and expenditure cuts continue to rise, even at a slow pace, including the wage bill. The deficit of the State diverges from that of the general government as a whole, attesting to its particular place within them. The ever-increasing complexity of the fiscal framework of the State, which is also weak and unstable, undermines the analysis of expenditure and its effectiveness, in particular because of the scale of tax expenditure and the increasing use of funds without legal personality. The performance approach, whose balance sheet is disappointing, needs to be re-founded to improve the efficiency of expenditure. This [report](https://www.ccomptes.fr/fr/publications/le-budget-de-letat-en-2018-resultats-et-gestion) is available on the Court’s website. The published files correspond to the data used in the preparation of the report.