The consultations will not be limited to Matignon. The new Minister of Economy and Finance Éric Lombard wishes to invite all political parties represented in Parliament to come and talk to Bercy in the coming days, to promote the adoption of a budget, he announced on Saturday.
“At the request of the Prime Minister, I will call on the political parties represented in the National Assembly and the Senate, as well as the parliamentary groups, to come and dialogue at the ministry with Amélie de Montchalin, the Minister of Public Accounts, and myself », Assures the minister in an interview with the Tribune Dimanche. “I will contact them (…) starting tomorrow morning. By sharing information about the reality of the situation, I will do everything possible to ensure that a budget is adopted. » For him, “finding compromises is essential”.
The minister, who will take over the Barnier government's draft budget left in abeyance by censorship, also believes that there “may be discussions on tax increases, which will have to be very limited”, while it will be necessary “additional savings” and that the deficit will be forecast “a little above 5%” of GDP to “protect growth”.
Éric Lombard also dismisses concerns about a possible increase in the number of people subject to income tax next year, because the “special law” which will come into force on January 1 to ensure the strict functioning of the State does not allow for the traditional indexation of the scale of this tax to inflation.
“We will have a budget which will include an indexation of the scale. The French who do not pay income tax today will not pay any tomorrow,” assures Éric Lombard.
