Guest of BFMTV/RMC, the Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, sounded the alarm this Thursday morning. “It is better to have a budget that is not exactly what we want than no budget at all”he insisted, thus opening the door to concessions on the budgetary texts under discussion. Faced with the threat of an economic and financial crisis, according to him, it is a question of avoiding “plunging the country into the unknown”.
On the negotiating table, explosive subjects. In particular taxes on electricity, a sensitive item for millions of households, but on which the minister remained vague. One red line, however: “Companies must not become the budget adjustment variable”he warned, while senators and deputies recorded on Wednesday a reduction in reductions in employer contributions to the tune of 1.6 billion euros. A pill that the presidential group, Ensemble pour la République, swallows reluctantly.
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“France is not Greece”
In an electric context, Antoine Armand wanted to chase away the specters agitated by the government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, who spoke this weekend of a “Greek scenario”. “France is not Greece”he insisted, before listing the tricolor assets: “a solid economy, a high employment rate, recognized attractiveness, and demographic power which make the difference. »
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But behind the reassuring phrases, the tension is palpable. On the eve of the S&P agency's decision on the rating of the French debt, the minister multiplied the striking images: “If the government falls without a budget, it is like a high-altitude plane losing control. » The alternative path, he warns, is that of “the degradation, the dislocation of the country, the leap into the budgetary and financial unknown”.
A call for collective responsibility, including from the opposition, which the minister sums up in a sharp formula: “It is not because we are against a Prime Minister that we are playing with the future of the nation. »
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