Public finances : "We must tell the truth to the French"says Pierre Moscovici before a debate in the Assembly
“We must tell the truth to the French”said Monday April 29 on franceinfo Pierre Moscovici, president of the High Council of Public Finances and first president of the Court of Auditors, before a budgetary orientation debate without a vote, from 3 p.m. at the National Assembly. “Whatever they are [ces vérités]we have to tell them where we are leaving from and where we are going to arrive and what we are doing in between.”he emphasizes.
For him, “if we want to go from 5.5% deficit in 2023 to 5.1% [en 2024]what is announced, we may have to do a little more.” only 10 billion euros in additional savings this year, as the government announced. For him, the executive will not be able to ignore a parliamentary vote. “There will surely be what we call an end-of-year budget collective”he says.
The executive promises a return to below 3% of the public deficit in 2027. “Go from 5.1% [la prévision de l’exécutif pour 2024] at less than 3% in 2027, it is extremely difficult”points out the former Minister of Economy and Finance. “You will note that both rating agencies, Fitch and Moody’s, have said they are skeptical, and frankly, I am too.”he snaps.
Fitch and Moody’s did not change their ratings for France’s sovereign debt on Friday evening. “Good news that changes nothing”, believes Pierre Moscovici. Indeed, “the problems are still there, the public finance problems have absolutely not changed.” From “lanes” For “reduce the deficit”he quotes “revenues, in other words taxes”. “Taxes are not a taboo subject in a country like France,” he says, while the executive rules out increasing them. “I think it’s not a massive lever”he nevertheless qualifies.
The former European Commissioner for Economic Affairs cites the “famous tax on oil companies’ superprofits”. “It was planned to bring in 12 billion euros, but it was planned at a time when inflation was at its peak. In the end, it brought in 600 million euros. Is the problem [les superprofits] is only cyclical? I don’t know”he says.
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