The “anti-inflation quarter” in supermarkets will be ” obviously “ prolonged “one trimester”confirmed the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, on Saturday May 20, reiterating his ” determination “ To “stop the price spiral” by fall.
Since March 15 and for three months, most supermarkets have committed to selling a selection of products at the “lowest possible price”, formula giving them great freedom of maneuver. The objective, for Bercy: to try to stem the galloping inflation on the shelves of supermarkets, still measured at nearly 16% over one year in March.
“We will obviously extend [l’opération] an extra term because the summer is difficult”said Mr. Le Maire on France 2 on Saturday evening. “As the prices are not going to drop immediately, the distributors must commit themselves for next summer and they have done so, so much the better. »
Announcements on tax cuts in the next few months
The minister also “thanked” the agri-food industry for accepting new trade negotiations “to lower prices”, “which means that, at the start of the school year in September and October, we will have – in any case, that is my determination – broken the price spiral”. The main representative body of the agri-food industry, ANIA, pledged last week that the 75 largest companies in the sector would reopen negotiations. ” Before the end of the month “.
As of May 11, Jacques Creyssel, general delegate of the Fédération du commerce et de la distribution (FCD), assured that distributors had “generally agreed to the extension of anti-inflation operations”. The CEO of System U, Dominique Schelcher, has thus announced that he is extending this mechanism to fight against inflation. ” until the end of the year “.
According to the government, “on average over the past seven weeks, the prices of products in the anti-inflation quarter have fallen by 13% in the basket”an analysis qualified as ” fake “ by the influential consumer association UFC-Que Choisir, which says it has noted small price increases in several brands.
On the fiscal side, while Emmanuel Macron promised 2 billion euros in tax cuts for the middle classes by 2027, Bruno Le Maire said he would ” offers “ from here ” a few weeks “ and considered that “announcements can be made in a few months”. “We do what our public finances allow us to do and I think that 2 billion euros is already a significant sum”he observed.