Discussions between the government and large retailers will be held in the coming days. Le Figaro
The government will bring together in the coming days the actors of the large distribution to find new solutions.
The executive procrastinates more and more… At the beginning of January, to preserve the purchasing power of the French, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, launched the idea of a “anti-inflation basket“. Supposed to meet the needs of a family with children, it was to contain around twenty products – atlowest possible prices– before being extended to around fifty references to better reflect French consumption. Except that a month after drawing the outlines of this project – and a month before the planned date of its launch – the executive now seems to be doing an about-face to leave the thinking in the hands of the distributors.
“I don’t know if it will be an anti-inflation basket“Admitted this Monday morning Bruno Le Maire, on BFMTV. And to add:this will be what distributors will find most useful and effective“. Discussions between these actors, Bruno Le Maire and the Minister of Commerce, Olivia Grégoire, will be held in the coming days. The objective is to “find solutions together“so that the impact of food inflation – at 13.5% over one year according to INSEE – “be the weakest for our compatriots“, hammered the Minister of the Economy.
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These exchanges take place at the same time as commercial negotiations between distributors and manufacturers. It is therefore difficult to lower prices which are not yet fixed between the players. They also expect an average increase of 10% on food products, from March. Everyone will therefore have to trim their margins in order to offer “slashed pricesto their customers.
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“I have set March 15 as the deadline to jointly find an operational solution to this increase in food prices.added Bruno Le Maire. Once this solution has been found, the government will closely study the prices set by manufacturers and distributors. “We will do another investigation in the spring to make sure that no one is lining their pockets.“, also says the Minister of the Economy.
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