In a press release issued Thursday, June 6, the Federation of Industries of New Caledonia indicates that the measures announced by the national government do not meet the crucial and immediate needs of businesses and employees. The FINC requests that New Caledonia be placed under state supervision. What does that mean? Response elements.
Emergency aid measures to respond to the economic crisis in New Caledonia were announced by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire and Marie Guévenoux, Minister Delegate for Overseas Territories, on Wednesday. Answer “insufficient“, according to representatives of the Federation of Industries of New Caledonia.
They “do not meet the crucial and immediate needs of businesses and employees“, wrote the representatives of the FINC when they spoke on June 5 with Bruno Le Maire. “We think it’s smoke and mirrors, which was announced to us the day before yesterday by the minister [Bruno Le Maire]. I want to say that the meeting was supposed to last an hour, it only lasted 25 minutes“, regrets Dominique Lefeivre, director of Biscochoc and member of the FINC management committee.
Among the announcements made: a national solidarity fund for VSEs and SMEs affected directly or indirectly. “In many companies, we don’t just have two or three employees. We have many more. One million CFP francs, as promised, over a month and a half, represents the salary of two and a half employees, charges included. It’s not sufficient“, assures Dominique Lefeivre.
Consequence: the members of the Federation of Industries demand that New Caledonia be placed under state supervision. “This means that the French government takes control for a given time, to clarify the situation. At least from a financial point of view, fairly for everyone“, specifies the director of Biscochoc.
The principle of guardianship is governed by international law. And according to the United Nations charter, the agreement between the State placed under trusteeship and the State which administers it is composed of conditions specific to each territory. They “may be different from one territory to another“.
But in concrete terms, this means that the State takes back control, whether from a political, economic or social point of view. In this case, the FINC wants the takeover to be financial. This has already been the case locally in 2021, to finalize the New Caledonia budget. A budget at the time defined by the Territorial Chamber of Accounts, then validated by the high commission.
FINC members draw up a list of immediate needs and expectations:
- Inject quickly and massively, “within three weeks maximum“, liquidity to match the damage in the local economy,
- Confirm a moratorium on state-guaranteed loans and bank loans,”for at least six months, with extension of repayment periods“,
- The creation of a solidarity fund, “extended to 50% of turnover losses, less operating losses covered by insurers, or contribution to an insurance fund which guarantees 100% of all operating losses“,
- Methodological help for “help rebuild the Caledonian economic and social model and support social accounts, beyond unemployment, which in turn are also in the process of ceasing payments since 2024“.
