DECRYPTION – In search of 60 billion euros in savings to complete the 2025 budget, the new Prime Minister is signing the great return of austerity. A taboo policy, difficult to bear and often associated with painful memories.
«We are collectively on a crest line“. This Tuesday, in a serious tone, Michel Barnier did not mince his words to discuss the alarming situation of France’s public finances. The surge in deficits in recent years and the resulting worsening of debt now pose a “real sword of Damocles» over the country. And if nothing is done, the situation “will place our country on the edge of the precipice», indicated the Prime Minister, during his general policy declaration. With its back against the wall, the State will therefore have to tighten its belt: to complete its 2025 budget, the government needs 60 billion euros. Nearly 40 billion euros in budget cuts are planned while 20 billion euros in tax increases will be assumed by “large companies» et «the wealthiest taxpayers“. If the executive and the government spokesperson at the head – Maud Bregeon – refuse to admit leading “an austerity policy», This explosive cocktail nevertheless looks a lot like it.
“It’s just a play on words”deciphers Matthieu Plane, economist at the French Economic Observatory (OFCE). “Austerity, rigor, budgetary consolidations, all these terms designate the same policy: reducing public spending or increasing tax levies to consolidate the state budget. And in fact, what awaits us is not only a policy of austerity, but an austerity policy…
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