Three days after warning the Court of Auditors about the deterioration of public finances, Bruno Le Maire announced on Sunday, at economic meetings in Aix-en-Provence, to urge parliamentarians to send his proposals to reduce public spending. The Minister of Finance indicated that in addition to the two “priorities”, namely purchasing power and full employment, “I propose to radically change the method of reducing spending.”

While the National Assembly is divided and the government does not have an absolute majority, the Minister of Economy and Finance has stated quite sarcastically: “I suggest that parliamentarians take up this issue and not the government.” Number 2 for the executive authority, which confirmed the presence of Ennahda deputy, Daniel LaBaron, within a “work team that will deeply rethink public spending.” “I consider that the only people with legitimacy to do this work are the deputies and the senators,” ruled Bruno Le Maire, who rejected from the outset the “savings of candles.”

“Basic of Public Finance”

“Small planning for €5 APL (Personal Housing Aid), I’m not sure if this is our greatest success in the last five years,” he said sarcastically. He also suggested organizing the “Assises des Finance publics” in order to “consider together, parliamentarians and government, the options we come up with”. The task that Percy has entrusted to parliamentarians promises to be broad, with a public deficit at 6.4% of GDP and a debt at 112.5% ​​of the national wealth at the end of 2021.

The State Audit Bureau, in its latest report on the state of public finances, published Thursday, expressed its concern about the billions in new spending that the government drew this week to support families and companies in the face of high inflation (5.8% over a year). in June according to INSEE). These “will lead to a worsening of the 2022 deficit compared to the preliminary finance law scenario”, which stipulated a deficit of 5% of GDP at the end of 2022, a target recently confirmed by the government but subject to “many risks”, according to the Cambon Street financial judges.

The government, for its part, assures that the new expenditures will be offset by particularly dynamic tax returns. On tax issues specifically, Bruno Le Maire on Sunday reiterated his proposal to allocate “all revenue from taxes on fossil fuels” to fight global warming.