He defends his record. The former Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, assured this Friday, November 8 before the Senate that he had taken “strong decisions” when he was at the head of the government to stem the budget’s slippage. “We have had alerts (on the deterioration of France’s public finances, editor’s note) and we have taken, I believe, strong decisions”, assured the former head of government, heard by the senators as part of an information mission on the drift in public accounts, before a commission of inquiry at the National Assembly.
“We revised the growth forecast, we increased the deficit target, we decided to make 20 billion euros in savings during the year and we prepared a state budget with 15 billion euros. euros in savings”, argued the former tenant of Matignon (January-September 2024), who has since become leader of the Macronist deputies Together for the Republic (EPR, ex-Renaissance). “I don’t believe that in the past, over such a short period of time, a government has identified and dared to make so many savings,” he said. Gabriel Attal thus believes that he was “highly aware of the tension on our public finances” when he was stationed at rue de Varenne.
A “political trial” against Bruno Le Maire, according to Attal
His intervention before the Upper House follows that of the former Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, questioned Thursday by senators on the question of public finances. The elected representatives of the Palais du Luxembourg, the majority of whom on the right and the center were in opposition until the appointment of Michel Barnier to Matignon, have in recent years shown themselves to be offensive towards the budgetary policy pursued by Bercy. During his hearing, Bruno Le Maire tried to respond to these accusations, pointing the finger at the current government. “There was no fault, no concealment, no desire to deceive,” he defended. “There was basically a serious technical revenue valuation error.”
The day after this speech, Gabriel Attal, for his part, judged the “political” and “media trial” carried out against his ex-colleague in the government to be “scandalous”. He also praised his “obsession with getting France out of debt”. The public deficit is expected at 6.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, a figure far removed from the 4.4% forecast in the fall of 2023 and the 5.1% forecast in the spring after reassessment by the executive. previous. It would only fall below the 3% of GDP authorized by the EU in 2029. These results would make France a bad European student. Enough to raise questions about the reliability of the forecasts of the previous Macronist majority.
The Senate must also hear Gabriel Attal’s predecessor, Elisabeth Borne, on this subject on November 15. From next week, he will also look at the 2025 draft budget and the “60 billion” euros in savings that it plans.