France: Bruno Le Maire announces ten billion euros in savings on state spending
With forecasts reduced to 1%, and tax revenues lower than expected, Bruno Le Maire announced on Sunday February 18 that he wanted to close the spending tap in order to respect the budgetary objectives of a public deficit of 4.4% of GDP for the current year.
French Minister of Economy, Finance, Industry and Digital Security, Bruno Le Maire, takes part in a press conference, at the Matignon hotel in Paris, France, on February 1, 2024. © Benoit Tessier /Reuters
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The
French
government has significantly revised downwards its growth estimate for 2024, from 1.4% to now 1%, Bruno Le Maire announced on Sunday, revealing
"
immediate "
savings
of ten billion euros on government spending. State to meet budgetary ambitions.
This growth forecast “
takes into account the new geopolitical context
”, explained the Minister of the Economy on
TF1
, referring to the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, the “
very marked economic slowdown in China
” and “
a recession in 2023 in Germany
".
As a result, and due to lower tax revenues than expected, the State “
will make an immediate effort of ten billion euros in savings
” in order to respect its budgetary objectives. Five billion euros will have to be saved from the operating budget “
of all ministries
”, explained Bruno Le Maire, for example on energy expenditure or purchases.
The government will also “
reduce public development aid by almost a billion euros ” and lower the MaPrimeRénov’
energy renovation
aid envelope by another billion euros
. “
We had announced an additional envelope of 1.6 billion from 2023 to 2024
” and “
there will always be an increase of 600 million, but we are recovering a billion
,” noted the minister.
Growth “
close to 0.9%
”, according to the Banque de France
A “
third series of savings
”, of a billion euros in total, will concern “
State operators
”, according to Bruno Le Maire who mentioned in particular the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion, Business France , France Competences or the National Center for Space Studies.
With its new growth forecast, the executive aligns itself with other estimates: the Banque de France expects growth “
close to 0.9%
”, the International Monetary Fund forecasts 1% and the OECD 0. 6%. Bercy still intends to reduce the public deficit to 4.4% of GDP in 2024, indicated Bruno Le Maire, compared to 4.9% anticipated for 2023. “
We also keep the possibility
” of a “
corrective budget in the summer depending on economic circumstances and depending on the geopolitical situation
,” the minister also noted.
Read alsoFrance: Bruno Le Maire visits Dunkirk, the challenge of decarbonization of industry
When I say that we need to make savings, it is to keep control of our public finances. We earn less, there is less tax revenue. We spend less. I believe that this is common sense and that any household listening to us can understand that when we earn less, we spend less. So, we will immediately spend ten billion euros less on state spending in the coming days. I really want to clarify this point for our compatriots. It's not social security that we're going to touch. It is not the local communities that we are going to affect. It is the State which will make an immediate effort of ten billion euros in savings. All ministries will be involved and will have to spend less on their operations. It could be on energy, on real estate, on purchases (...). All ministries will contribute up to what they represent in the national budget, so that the effort is equitably and fairly distributed.
00:53
Bruno Le Maire was the guest of TF1 on Sunday February 18
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