It is a classic budgetary exercise at the end of the year, to adjust the State accounts. But, five months before the presidential election, while purchasing power has come back in force in the concerns of the French, it takes a particular turn. Presented on Wednesday 3 November in the Council of Ministers, the second amending finance bill of 2021 endorses several measures taken in recent weeks by the government in an attempt to address concerns on the subject.
It includes, in particular, the extension of the energy check announced in mid-September by the Prime Minister, Jean Castex (580 million euros), and most of the “inflation compensation”, presented ten days ago, at destination people earning less than 2,000 euros net per month (3.6 billion euros out of the 3.8 billion total cost of the measure, which corresponds to the compensation by the State of the organizations that will pay these sums: Social security , Employment center, etc.).
The amending finance bill will also include 400 million euros of the 900 million of the “skills plan” for the long-term unemployed, and two billion euros to replenish France skills, the national governance body which distributes the training and learning fund, victim of its own success. Some 240 million will be paid for museums and performing arts, as compensation for the health crisis, as well as 500 million for compensation against freezing in favor of farmers. The tariff shield freezing the prices of gas and electricity should be financed for 2022. In total, more than 7 billion euros of new expenditure will be entered in this amending budget.
On the revenue side, the government will reap copious additional tax revenues (nearly 5 billion). In question, the economic improvement: the GDP grew by 3% in the third quarter, exceeding the most optimistic forecasts. The high council of public finances, responsible for giving an opinion on the budgetary path, also indicated on Wednesday that “The government’s growth assumption should be exceeded.” He regretted between the lines to have been seized before the publication of these figures better than expected, which risk modifying again the budgetary trajectory. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, who had revised growth upwards in mid-October, to 6.25% for this year, did not readjust his forecasts, however.
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