Former Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire estimated, Thursday, November 7, that the slippage in the public deficit to 6.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) was “the choice of the current government”denying any “concealment” or “will to deceive” on the situation of public accounts.
“When I am told that the deficit in 2024 will be at 6.1%, it is the choice of the current government. And I will provide all the evidence that we could have in 2024, with more rigorous recovery measures, a deficit around 5.5%. I therefore formally contest this figure of 6.1%”declared Bruno Le Maire. The former minister spoke before the Senate Finance Committee as part of an information mission on the drift in public finances.
According to the end-of-management finance bill presented Wednesday to the Council of Ministers, the public deficit will go up to 6.1% of GDP in 2024. It was forecast at 4.4% in the finance bill. initial presented in the fall of 2023, then raised to 5.1% in the spring by the previous government, in which Bruno Le Maire led Bercy for more than seven years.
Revenues down
“There was no fault, no concealment, no desire to deceive. There was fundamentally a serious technical error in the evaluation of revenues for which we are paying the price”developed the former minister, who left to teach in Lausanne.
Revenues were initially estimated at 41.5 billion euros above what they will actually be in 2024, while growth was revised to 1.4%, or 1.1%.
Bruno Le Maire insisted on the fact that “never, at any time, neither the cabinet, nor a fortiori the minister, say a word about the assessment of revenue”which is an exercise « technique ». There is “total waterproofing”he added. “The minister does not comment. The politician does not comment, and, moreover, that is perhaps a good thing, because if the politician started to get involved in the evaluation of revenues, we would cry manipulation. »
He also stressed that the previous government had spent massively to support households and businesses during successive crises, before initiating savings measures in the face of the increase in French public debt. The former minister said he even “resisted” to some 400 billion in additional spending which was then demanded by parliamentarians from all sides.
