At the Ministry of Economy, the banker Eric Lombard and the revenant Amélie de Montchalin face the challenge of the budget – Libération

By replacing Antoine Armand and Laurent Saint-Martin, the director of the Caisse des Dépôts and the former Macronist minister, appointed this Monday to the government, will notably have to try to complete a budget, with little room for maneuver.

To climb “the Himalayas of difficulties” at Bercy, François Bayrou chose to appoint Eric Lombard, 66 years old and current director general of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, as head of Economy and Finance. Under her responsibility, Amélie de Montchalin, 39 years old, will be delegated to Public Accounts. Exit from Bercy Antoine Armand and Laurent Saint-Martin, the tandem named in September. The two Macronists only stayed in office for three months. The second, former director general of Business France, nevertheless remains in the government, delegate for Foreign Trade and French people abroad.

A graduate of HEC, Eric Lombard spent most of his career in the private sector. Former manager of the insurance subsidiary of BNP-Paribas and the French branch of the Italian insurer Generali, this former ministerial advisor to Michel Sapin from 1991 to 1993, labeled Rocardian, was one of the pillars of the liberal social think-tank the Gracchi. In 2017, he was proposed by Emmanuel Macron to take the head of the Caisse des Dépôts, then reappointed to this position in 2022. If he has never held a government or elected office, the name of Eric Lombard had already circulated this summer to go to Matignon, in the event of a technical government, before the