Gabriel Attal finds the “media and political trial” against Bruno Le Maire on the deficit “scandalous”

“I find the media trial quite scandalous [et] policy” made to Bruno Le Maire on the slippage of the deficit. Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal defended his Minister of the Economy during a Senate hearing this Friday, November 8, as part of an information mission on the drift in public accounts. He particularly welcomed the“obsession with getting France out of debt” which, according to him, Bruno Le Maire demonstrated during his years at the head of Bercy.

Himself questioned the day before, the former Minister of the Economy had refuted on Thursday any “mistake” or “concealment” faced with the significant deterioration of France's public finances, and assured that the current government could have limited it to 5.5% for 2024 (instead of 6.1%) by taking the measures it left on the table when he leaves. The expected public deficit is very far from the 4.4% of GDP forecast for fall 2023 and the 5.1% forecast for spring after reassessment by the previous executive. It would only fall below the 3% of GDP authorized by the EU in 2029, making France a bad European student.

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“We made strong decisions”

Like Bruno Le Maire, Gabriel Attal praised the “strong decisions” taken when he was at Matignon to stem the budget's slippage. “We have had alerts [sur la dégradation des finances publiques de la France, NDLR] and we took, I believe, strong decisions, affirmed the former head of government. We revised the growth forecast, we increased the deficit target, we decided to make 20 billion euros in savings during the year and we prepared a state budget with 15 billion euros savings.”

“I don’t believe that in the past, over such a short period of time, a government has identified and dared to make so many savings”he insisted, believing that he had “a high awareness of the tension on our public finances” when he was on rue de Varenne.

Élisabeth Borne auditioned on November 15

This slippage in the deficit has raised questions about the reliability of the forecasts of the previous Macronist majority. The Senate, whose right and center majority was in opposition until the appointment of Michel Barnier to Matignon, had been very offensive in recent years against Bercy and Bruno Le Maire, regularly accused “insincerity” et “opacity” towards Parliament.

The Senate must also hear Gabriel Attal's predecessor, Elisabeth Borne, on November 15. The upper house will consider from next week the draft 2025 budget and the “60 billion” of euros in savings that he plans.