(Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to get the budget deficit under 3% of economic output by 2027 lacks credibility and would require unprecedented efforts to curb spending, the country’s fiscal watchdog said. 

The French government is facing growing fiscal challenges after last year’s shortfall came in much wider than expected due to weaker-than-anticipated economic growth and tax revenues. 

Last week, the finance ministry overhauled its long-term plans and now sees a gap of 5.1% of economic output this year and 4.1% in 2025, compared to previous forecasts of 4.4% and 3.7%. It targets 3.6% in 2026 and 2.9% in 2027, instead of 2.7%.

“This forecast lacks credibility,” the High Council of Public Finances said in a statement. “Such an effort on spending has never been made in the past and its documentation is still incomplete.”

The institution also said Macron’s plans for such large cuts to the budget would weigh on economic growth.

“The government’s high growth forecasts for the period have little coherency with the size of the adjustment,” the council said. 

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