Bruno Le Maire pleaded Monday for the purchasing power of the French.

Faced with accelerating inflation, the Minister of the Economy called on companies that can to "increase wages", during a meeting in Bercy with employers' organizations.

"Our compatriots must say to themselves, 'it pays me to work', and not 'it costs me dearly'", because of the price of gasoline, added the minister.

"The return of inflation is a source of concern and concern, of anguish for millions of compatriots", underlined Bruno Le Maire, while the rise in consumer prices reached 4.8% over a year in April.

The answer “cannot rest solely on the State”

Addressing the bosses, he wished "that, all together, we can provide answers to this", while rejecting "general increases, everywhere, decided by the administration".

“The response to inflation must be equitably shared (…) This cannot rest solely on the State,” the minister further pleaded.

Echoing this, the President of the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME), François Asselin, who had rejected in the morning on

France Info

any "uniform salary increase", underlined the reduced room for maneuver of many companies.

“A company can only distribute what it earns (…).

The principle of reality imposes itself on it”.

Companies don't want to "handicap the future"

“We have companies that are weakened, so we have to be careful, not to handicap the future, which is uncertain”, added Dominique Métayer, president of the Union of local businesses (U2P).

Employer representatives also highlighted the efforts already made.

Faced with recruitment tensions, “many companies have made individual increases” in wages, assured François Asselin.

In addition, “about 50% of VSEs/SMEs have paid their employees the “Macron” bonus” created at the end of 2018, tax-free and the maximum amount of which should triple during the five-year term, according to a campaign promise from Emmanuel Macron.

To encourage more companies to take the plunge, François Asselin therefore suggested that the government authorize them to pay the premium in several instalments, so as to circumvent any temporary cash flow difficulties.

On

France Info

, the deputy president of the Medef, Patrick Martin, for his part pleaded for “profit-sharing schemes, bonuses”.

They must "make it possible to find a compromise solution that satisfies everyone and does not put companies in difficulty over time".

To restore purchasing power to employees, the co-president of the Movement of medium-sized enterprises (METI) Frédéric Coirier told him to bet on the announced reduction in production taxes.

“We have to return to the (European) average to restore the margins of our companies.

From the moment they have margins, they invest, they create jobs and they can increase the remuneration of employees,” he explained.

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