Europe 1 10:03 a.m., April 05, 2022

Five days before the first round of the presidential election, Fabien Roussel is the exceptional guest of Europe 1. Surrounded by Dimitri Pavlenko and Mathieu Bock-Côté, the communist candidate spoke about the inflation of raw materials and shared his proposals to increase the purchasing power of the French.

The war arrives in the purse of the French.

Business owners, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), face a very perilous situation as energy and commodity prices soar.

In the face of inflation, employees are also demanding wage increases.

At the microphone of Europe 1, the presidential candidate Fabien Roussel returned to several of his proposals to help the French to face the crisis.

For the communist candidate, we must not oppose business owners to employees.

"They are both right. The price of eggs increases by 50% because of all these raw materials which are also increasing. And the employees, for their part, are demanding to be able to live with dignity on their salary. The Smic remains still at 1,280 euros net per month. Excuse me, but today, given the inflation of bills, it does not allow you to live, "he explained.

Subsidized loans to deal with inflation

Faced with soaring energy prices, SMEs are now forced to lower their margins, according to a survey by the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises.

To limit the impact of this price increase on purchasing power, Fabien Roussel wants "we act strongly on energy bills".

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"The price of electricity is spot sales. It's speculation on the electricity market, when it's a basic need. So I want us to take back control of this energy production and this energy pricing to immediately help our businesses", he declared at the microphone of Europe 1.

"I offer subsidized loans. It's when you borrow 100 euros, you repay 80 euros. That means it's a loan with which you earn money at a negative rate. The European Central Bank did it to the financial markets. It is possible. Well, I propose to do it as a State", he added.

For Fabien Roussel, this is a direct way of helping business leaders by acting on the price of invoices, to allow them "to have money to meet their needs and this inflation of price".