The former Minister of the Economy and Finance is being heard this Thursday morning by the National Assembly's commission of inquiry into the slippage in public finances.
To defend himself, Bruno Le Maire relies on an offensive speech. Heard by the deputies of the commission of inquiry into the slippage of public finances, the former Minister of the Economy and Finance denounced the “hypocrisy” of the National Assembly. “The debate on the 2025 budget and the motion of censure have made the masks fall,” he said, addressing parliamentarians in his preliminary remarks.
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The National Assembly “does not want to reduce public spending”, “does not want to reduce the debt” and “does not want a serious plan to restore public accounts in France”, declared Bruno Le Maire, affirming that it had “lost the sense of economic and budgetary realities”.
“At what point was the recovery of the Nation's accounts seriously discussed in your debates? Never. Where did you propose and document sustainable, serious, significant savings in your debates? Nowhere,” said -he annoyed.
“I am speaking in front of parliamentarians who have just voted in committee for 60 billion in additional spending in the 2025 budget, after having proposed all groups combined more than 400 billion in additional spending in the 2024 budget. And you say you want to restore the public accounts? Hypocrisy “, launched the former minister to the deputies of the commission of inquiry.
Revaluation of pensions
“I am speaking in front of parliamentarians who rush at 8 p.m. to announce that pensions will be significantly increased on January 1. And you say you want to reduce the weight of the debt? Hypocrisy,” he continued, also deploring “the spectacle of invectives, verbal threats and noise” during public sessions at the Palais Bourbon.
This year, “we had to make drastic, rapid, unpopular savings decisions to keep the accounts”, argued Bruno Le Maire, listing the “cancellations of credits”, the “exit from the tariff shield on electricity” , the “doubling of the franchise on medicines” or even “the taxation of share buybacks”. These 25 billion euros “will ultimately have been the only savings for 2024,” he lamented.
“You dismissed all these savings out of hand, you even demanded to go back on them,” said Bruno Le Maire. “So who are you to judge?” he asked.
Jérémy Bruno Journalist BFMTV
