“I am very happy at the Banque de France and I believe I am useful to the general interest, so everyone has their place,” the head of the French central bank said on BFMTV-RMC on Wednesday. In each of his recent media appearances, the question of his interest in Bercy has not failed to be asked. And his name has been circulating all summer, even if he is not the only one being considered for this position – the socialist deputies Philippe Brun and Liot Charles de Courson declined.
François Villeroy de Galhau’s profile has something to seduce at a time when Prime Minister Michel Barnier, lacking an absolute majority in the National Assembly, hopes to be able to attract personalities from all walks of life to the government. A supporter of budgetary orthodoxy while defending the most vulnerable, this 65-year-old polytechnician and ENA graduate labeled on the left appeals to economic circles.
” Solid “. “They are looking for someone technical, reassuring,” confides an advisor to the outgoing executive. And “he ticks the box of the liberal left,” he who has officiated in several left-wing offices, including that of Dominique Strauss-Kahn at Bercy. “He is perceived as someone competent, solid. He is constantly looking for the right balance,” underlines a leading economist interviewed by AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
At this stage, however, his rallying seems unlikely. “Even for the formation of cabinets, we had a lot of trouble recruiting, because everyone says they don’t want to commit for a few months,” notes an outgoing minister. Not yet formed, the next government is already attracting threats of censure.
Derivative. Finding a replacement for Bruno Le Maire at Bercy will be all the more difficult as the latter has left France in the red, faced with a drift in its public accounts after successive crises. Faced with such a challenge, François Villeroy de Galhau’s track record works in his favour, according to the economist: “He has reduced the level of spending at the Banque de France (…) with a concern for improving the organisation. There has been no drop in the quality of service, quite the opposite.”
After a stint in the private sector, notably within the management of BNP Paribas, this senior civil servant from a wealthy industrial family from the East of the country, who says he is very attached to public service, became governor of the Banque de France in 2015. His mandate was renewed in 2021 for six years. At the head of this independent institution, he regularly advocates for control of public spending and for compliance with the country’s commitments in terms of debt reduction and reduction of the public deficit.
” Clarify “. “We need to clarify economic policy and budgetary policy,” he insisted on BFMTV. “We are emerging from an acute illness, which is inflation,” believes the man who also sits on the board of governors of the European Central Bank (ECB), which is involved in the fight against excessive price increases. “Now it is time to actively address our two chronic illnesses: in France, we have too much debt and we don’t have enough growth,” he adds. Denouncing the current political “discord,” he counters: “On our public stage, we should talk a little less and act a little more.”
To bring the country’s deficit down to 3% of GDP within five years – and not as early as 2027 as the outgoing government is aiming for, an unrealistic prospect according to him – the governor went so far on Wednesday as to put figures on the efforts he considers necessary: 20 billion euros to be found per year, including 15 billion in savings on expenditure and 5 billion in tax increases “temporarily” targeting certain large companies and large taxpayers, and not the middle classes and SMEs. For Maxime Darmet, economist at Allianz Trade, seeing François Villeroy de Galhau at Bercy would be “a good signal (sent) to economic circles” and “to Brussels on budgetary seriousness”.
Martine PAUWELS
© Agence France-Presse
