Paris (AFP)

Accused of having renounced its objectives of control of public spending, the government defended Wednesday of any lax budget, deeming impossible to "go into force" on economic measures after the crisis of "yellow vests".

Removal of civil service posts, state reform, reduction of tax loopholes ... "The direction which is that of the reestablishment of public finances, it is held and will continue to be held", assured France Inter the minister Bruno Le Mayor.

A goal that does not preclude him some adjustments. "You can not pretend that there was not a huge social movement that called for the consolidation of public services," he continued, referring to the "yellow vests".

The Mayor has pushed several times in recent months for ambitious savings measures, intended to offset the expenses and tax cuts announced in the face of the movement of "yellow vests" and the outcome of the great debate, figures to 17 billion euros.

But the arbitrations made in recent days by Matignon and the Elysee especially in the context of the preparation of the draft finance law for 2020 have highlighted the contradictions of the executive, who finally chose to back off the savings measures .

To compensate for the 5 billion euro drop in income tax, only 615 million euros in savings on tax loopholes were decided, while the government initially announced a reduction ranging from 1 to 1 , 5 billion euros.

Regarding the pension reform, the executive has given up immediately to any measure of economy, while several ministers - including Bruno Mayor and Gerald Darmanin - advocated for an extension of working time.

About the number of officials, finally, only 15,000 job cuts would be considered on the perimeter of the State by the end of the five-year period, far from the 50,000 promised by Emmanuel Macron, according to the newspaper Les Echos.

- Public spending up -

"The goal of 50,000 by 2022 seems extremely difficult to achieve," said Wednesday Secretary of State for Public Service Olivier Dussopt, without confirming the figure advanced by Les Echos.

A change of course justified according to him by the "commitments" of Emmanuel Macron with regard to education, but also by the expectations of the French in terms of "proximity of public services".

"We take into account this social reality You can not go into force, it does not exist: the idea that you could brutally impose on the French a direction they do not want, I think it's a mistake "insisted Bruno Le Maire.

These various decisions, denounced by the opposition, have led to criticism within the majority, some estimating - like the LREM coordinator of the Finance Committee Bénédicte Peyrol - the decline in spending was "not" far enough".

According to Bercy, public spending should grow by 4.6 billion euros next year, despite the decline in interest rates, which should significantly reduce the debt burden.

The Ministry of Armies is expected to experience the largest increase, with 1.53 billion euros of additional budget appropriations compared to the initial budget law (BIA), according to preparatory documents for the 2020 budget posted by Bercy.

The Interior is expected to obtain an additional 740 million euros, to finance the salary increases and increases decided by the executive. National Education and Ecological Transition, meanwhile, should earn 1.04 billion and 640 million euros.

On the losing side are the Ministry of Public Accounts (-120 million euros) and public broadcasting (-70 million euros). The budget of the Ministry of Justice is expected to increase, but less than expected (200 million euros instead of 380 million).

According to Bercy, the public deficit should reach next year 2.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) instead of the 2% initially expected. The public debt, which was initially expected to decline, should remain at 98.9% of GDP.

© 2019 AFP