Just three weeks ago, the government announced an emergency plan of 45 billion euros to fight the crisis. Today we are more than double, 100 billion ...
Yes, and as a result the public deficit will reach 7.6% of GDP, we are far from the sketch of 3%. The debt will reach 112% of the national wealth. Economic growth will plunge by 6%. These frightening figures that I am revealing to you this morning will be included in the amending budget which will be presented next week in the Council of Ministers. They are based on the assumption that containment as we know it right now lasts about six weeks. But if it is more, if there is a second wave of epidemic as in Asia, obviously these figures will have to be revised. And what is clear is that the state cannot support the economy indefinitely.
In this budget, the State provides 20 billion for nationalizations ...
Yes to nationalize weakened companies or to acquire their capital. It is the fire-fighting state. The great fear - justified - of Bruno Le Maire, who will be presently at the microphone of Sonia Mabrouk, is that this crisis will make whole sections of our economic fabric disappear forever. Hence these massive aids. But you can see it: the time is approaching when we have to make a painful choice. Maintain very strict confinement in the name of protecting public health but at the risk of killing the economy. Or loosen containment to avoid general bankruptcy. The time for this arbitration is approaching. This is undoubtedly the most difficult decision to make in the five-year period.