According to a survey, 50% of French people would recommend that the government reduce public spending.
What will be Michel Barnier’s recipe for straightening out the country’s accounts? Two days before the general policy speech to be delivered by the Prime Minister to Parliament, little information has leaked on its content. The new tenant of Matignon nevertheless prepared the ground, repeatedly evoking a possible increase in taxes, provoking an outcry even within the Macronist ranks. In the Journal of Saône et LoireMichel Barnier warned that he would “appeal in an exceptional manner to those who can contribute”.
However, according to a survey by the YouGov firm carried out for the HuffPostonly a third of French people think that the government should increase taxes to replenish state coffers. And only 8% of them are ready to undergo an increase in taxes on all households. On the other hand, 67% of French people say they are in favor of creating a tax on the richest households to finance the reduction in the public deficit.
“The situation in France is very serious on a budgetary and financial level. My responsibility as Prime Minister, and that of the government, is to face up and take measures, not against this or that category, but by ensuring that we are fair.insisted Michel Barnier in his interview with the regional daily.
Reduce public spending
In addition to an increase in taxation, Michel Barnier could also use the lever of public spending to straighten out the country’s accounts. According to this survey, 50% of French people would recommend that the government reduce public spending, or restructure it (53%), to control the French deficit.
Also readBetween feelings of “injustice” and “frustration”, why increasing taxes is always so difficult to accept
Earlier this week, Pierre Moscovici, first president of the Court of Auditors, asked the new prime minister to “make intelligent savings, which do not degrade public services.” As for a debate on an increase in taxation, if it “must and cannot be taboo”, “expecting tens of billions in revenue from a crushing increase in taxation would not be good for the French economy”, warned the senior official.
