Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe regretted on Monday February 26 that France “does not reform much”, in an interview with L’Opinion where he is concerned about the state of public finances and calls for the debt to be considered as a “political obsession.”
“In 2017, the President of the Republic said a lot, and I agreed, that, even if it meant spending, we had to reform massively. Today, the problem is that we are not reforming much,” the mayor of Le Havre and head of the Horizons party told the daily, while the government has just lowered the growth forecast for 2024. and announce 10 billion euros in savings.
“We must begin to cure ourselves of the temptation to resolve everything with checks worth several hundred million euros, or even billions of euros, as soon as a problem arises,” continued the prospective candidate for the next presidential election, which hides its ambitions less and less, even if it means distancing itself from the discourse of the executive and the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron.
Debt as a “political obsession”
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, has unveiled in recent days savings measures amounting to 10 billion euros to meet the objectives of reducing the deficit to 4.4% of GDP, after reducing the forecast growth for 2024 at 1%. Public debt amounts to more than 3,000 billion euros in the 3rd quarter of 2023, according to INSEE, compared to around 2,200 billion at the end of 2017.
“The French may have the impression that, deep down, we will never have to repay the debt. This is a very dangerous idea,” warned the head of the Horizons party. “Debt is not an accountant’s obsession. It must be a political obsession, because when we let it slip we gradually lose our sovereignty. »
While preferring the notion of budgetary “seriousness” rather than “rigor”, the latter said he wanted to “resume the work of transforming the State” and “renounce useless or ineffective actions”.
An audible speech for a candidate? “We can win an election by telling the truth, even when it is difficult to hear,” replied the ex-tenant of Matignon. “It’s something that the French know how to recognize. »
