Bruno Le Maire criticized by the opposition, Pierre Moscovici regrets a “significant” and “very, very rare” slip-up

After the announcement by INSEE of a public deficit of 5.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, the right and left oppositions held Bruno Le Maire and Emmanuel Macron for “responsible” of the deterioration of the budgetary situation, some of their representatives demanding the departure of the Minister of Finance.

“5.5% deficit and 110.6% public debt: the last symphony of the Mozart of finance resembles the swan song. Mr. Macron is responsible for this disastrous record! », reacted on X Eric Ciotti (The Republicans, LR). “Bruno Le Maire is discredited and discredited, his responsibility is engaged”, estimated on Public Senate the rapporteur (LR) of the Budget in the Senate, Jean-François Husson. However, the right agrees with Bruno Le Maire on one point: the refusal of an increase in taxes to reduce the deficit.

“We are the most taxed country in the OECD. If the government did it, it would be a mistake”commented Bruno Retailleau on LCI. “We are going to amuse the gallery with the 10 billion [d’économies en 2024] until the European elections and badaboum, after the elections we will say “But the account is not there, we will have to do more””warned the president of the LR group in the Senate.

On the left, the communist Fabien Roussel judged on TF1 that Bruno Le Maire and Emmanuel Macron were ” liars “ And “white collar scammers” which, according to him, led people to believe that deficits would be reduced with pension reform. The chairman of the Finance Committee of the Assembly, Eric Coquerel (La France insoumise, LFI) rated on “that by overestimating growth, Bruno Le Maire had seriously underestimated the deficit”.

Like the LFI coordinator, Manuel Bompard, the left expects a “unprecedented bleeding on public finances” and argues on the contrary for “an increase in revenue by concentrating tax increases on the richest”. The left also fears that the government will attack local authority allocations. “After a colossal error which amounts to incompetence, Bruno Le Maire is not going to pick the pockets of the communities! », rebelled against the socialist mayor of Le Mans Stéphane Le Foll.

“The subject is not the number of billions of euros of debt. This is why we get into debt”estimated ecologist Marine Tondelier on Franceinfo. “When we invest in the ecological transition, then we do very useful things for the future. And it would cost a lot more in the medium term not to do it”she pleaded. “It’s Robin Hood in reverse: we’re going to make everyone pay to avoid making the richest contribute”she lamented.

A “significant” and “very, very rare” slippage

The first president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, for his part, regretted the slippage on Tuesday ” important “ And “very, very rare” of France’s deficit, estimated at 5.5% of GDP in 2023 compared to 4.9% initially expected by the government.

“I am no longer surprised, we have been calculating this figure for a few days, but it is still a slip-up in execution which is significant, not entirely unprecedented but very, very rare”he estimated on France Inter. “The 4.9% was already not a performance, since the 2022 deficit was at 4.8%”developed the former Minister of Economy and Finance.

Compared to the 2022 deficit, with the forecast of 4.9% for 2023, “we already had a blank year, and now we have a worse year” with 5.5%, deplored Mr. Moscovici, judging that this slippage placed France in a “unfortunate situation”.

The president of the control body, however, ruled that there had been no“insincerity” in government deficit forecasts, “in the sense that there is no desire to deceive” on the part of the executive. But “the government has been optimistic. For 2023, we did not see the fact coming that after a while revenues would end up flattening out”added Mr. Moscovici.