Antoine Armand says he is ready to make “concessions” to avoid a financial “storm” for France

The government is opening the door to adjustments to the budget. Guest on BFMTV/RMC this Thursday morning, Antoine Armand said he was ready to do “concessions” on budgetary texts, in order to avoid “storm” economic and financial that according to him the fall of the government without a budget would result. “It is better to have a budget that is not exactly what we want than no budget at all.”declared the Minister of the Economy. Mentioning taxes on electricity, Antoine Armand did not detail the amount of potential compromise on this essential expenditure item for households.

The Bercy tenant added that he did not want to see companies become the “budget adjustment variable”. And this, while senators and deputies agreed on Wednesday evening on a reduction in reductions in employer contributions, to the tune of 1.6 billion euros. A measure fought to the end by the presidential group, Ensemble pour la République.

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“France is not Greece”

“Whatever differences in values ​​we have, we are today faced with an extremely serious situation for the country. The Prime Minister spoke of a storm. It is not a word chosen at random, it is a word which has a financial, economic and budgetary resonance”declared Antoine Armand. But the minister also invites the opposition parties to make compromises. “It is not because we do not agree with a prime minister and a government that we are plunging the country into budgetary and financial unknowns.”

Returning to the fears of a “Greek scenario” mentioned by government spokesperson Maud Bregeon last weekend in The Parisianthe Minister of the Economy judged “France [n’était] not Greece.” “France has an economy, France has an employment situation, activity, attractiveness, an economic and demographic power which is much greater”he assured.

If the government falls, without a budget having been voted, “we risk stalling like a plane that is at altitude and which at one point risks losing control. However, there is a path: this path is this budget”added Antoine Armand, while recognizing that it could be improved. In contrast, “there is the path to the unknown, there is the path to degradation, there is the path to the dislocation of the country, there is the path to leaping into the budgetary, economic and financial unknown”he continued, on the eve of the decision of the S&P rating agency on France's debt.