The government’s relief on the public finance issue was only short-lived. The maintenance of the French signature by the rating agencies, Moody’s and Fitch, on Friday April 26, did not quell the vehemence of opposition against the executive.
During the debate without a vote on public finances, organized Monday April 29 at the National Assembly, the left, the right and the extreme right targeted the budgetary negligence of the Macronist power after the public deficit skidded to 5.5%. of gross domestic product for 2023, against the expected 4.9%.
“Yes, there was a revenue accident in 2023, I readily admit that. Yes, it must not be renewed. But let’s not try to confuse an accident in one year with the years during which we met our deficit objectives and our growth objectives.”justified the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, in front of around fifty deputies present in the Hemicycle on this occasion.
“The alert level has been reached”
The number two in the government declared that he wanted “reach out to all opposition parliamentarians who have the desire, like us, to get the public deficit below 3%. » An objective maintained for 2027, while several independent organizations, like the High Council of Public Finances, are concerned about the lack of “credibility” and of ” consistency ” growth forecasts presented as part of the government’s stability program (Pstab).
Arguments taken up by the government’s detractors at the Palais-Bourbon. “The year 2023 will also remain a dark year for our finances (…) Pull yourself together, because the alert level has been reached as far as we are concerned”, warned Véronique Louwagie, MP (Les Républicains) for Orne. “Your budgetary guidelines only say one thing: to incompetence and lies, you now add social brutality, economic inefficiency and financial impasse”, for his part castigated the president of the socialist group, Boris Vallaud, requesting the national reform program for 2024, a document annexed to the Pstab and transmitted to Brussels, finally obtained during the discussion after several session suspensions.
These two hours of debate without much at stake for the government will however remain an ultimatum. That of the National Rally (RN) on one side, then of La France Insoumise (LFI) on the other, who confirmed their desire to overthrow the government through a motion of censure. And this, before the European elections on June 9.
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