2024-01-13 12:28:42
The Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, ultimately remains in his post following the ministerial reshuffle carried out in France. Even more, the minister who broke the record for longevity in the economy department was entrusted with another portfolio. From now on, Bruno Le Maire also takes care of the ecological transition. For this new mandate, several projects await the minister. However, the French are wondering regarding its priorities.
In the post of Minister of Economy and Finance for 6 years and 8 months without interruption, Bruno Le Maire has distinguished himself above all by his opposition to certain social measures. Indeed, the food check, a system which was to help low-income households cope with the soaring prices of food products promised by Emmanuel Macron, was abandoned by the government, to the great dismay of households affected by inflation. It was the Minister of the Economy who confirmed this abandonment. He ruled that food checks were not “the right way to go”. “Let’s forget check policies, we can’t afford them today,” he declared, favoring support for associations and food banks to help the poorest households.
Bruno Le Maire also took the same action regarding the demand for rebates at the pump during the surge in fuel prices. The minister had rejected this idea, as well as that of the fuel check ultimately imposed by Emmanuel Macron.
Bruno Le Maire’s priorities
For the remainder of his mandate as minister, Bruno Le Maire will have to address several obstacles facing the French economy. He will have to continue to take measures to bring down inflation in a climate of global economic uncertainties born from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. The Minister of the Economy might therefore be called upon to act in the event of a surge in oil prices.
However, as he has stressed on several occasions, Bruno Le Maire’s priority is to get France out of debt. A task which will be felt in the daily lives of the French given that it will be to the detriment of social measures which will continue to decline. Thus, the minister will have the task of reducing the French debt which accumulates more than 3,000 billion euros, or 111.7% of GDP in the third quarter of 2023. Thus, if the executive fails to take significant measures , it will be sanctioned by the rating agencies. As a reminder, Fitch has already downgraded the French sovereign rating in spring 2023.
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