France will meet the EU deficit limit of 3.0 percent of GDP in 2017, the prime minister insisted Thursday, after the public accounts watchdog said it would miss the mark unless it took urgent action.

‘We commit to rein in the deficit to 3.0 percent this year: we will do it not by raising taxes, we will do it through making savings,’ Edouard Philippe said.

The Court of Auditors said earlier Thursday that in the absence of ‘strong adjustment measures’ the gap between spending and revenue would reach 3.2 percent of GDP, exceeding the eurozone limit of 3.0 percent of GDP.

It was seen as a warning to new President Emmanuel Macron, who will produce his first budget in the autumn.

The previous Socialist government had said it expected the deficit to fall from 3.4 percent last year to 2.8 percent this year, which would have brought France in line with EU rules for the first time in a decade.

But the auditors said France was currently 8.0 billion euros ($9 billion) off the target and accused the Socialists of ‘insincerities’ in their forecasts, saying they routinely underestimated spending.

Philippe called the Socialist government's estimations ‘unacceptable’.

‘It's as if the previous government drew up a budget and forgot all about the justice ministry's budget,’ Philippe complained.

Macron himself served in France's Socialist administration as economy minister under Francois Hollande between 2014 and 2016.

The auditors said meeting the current 2017 target would require ‘unprecedented’ savings, and called for spending across public services to be reined in.

Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire warned of ‘difficult decisions’ ahead.

Ruling out further increases in tax, which increased sharply under the Socialists, he said all levels of government would have to tighten their belts.

Over the past four years France has won two extensions to the EU's deadline for it to rein in spending.

The European Commission has, however, ruled out bending the rules a third time.