Faced with the deterioration of public finances but also the refusal of the government to table an amending budget after having decreed 20 billion euros in savings for this year, the deputies debated the direction of public finances this Monday.
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Public deficit forecasts have been revised upwards to 5.5% in 2023 compared to 4.9 initially forecast: on Monday, the government suffered in the Assembly the crossfire from the opposition in the face of the deterioration of public finances, during the “debate “budgetary orientation” without a vote which opened the parliamentary re-entry after a two-week break. Both the right and the left castigated the “lack of credibility” of the government’s policy, repeating the words from the High Council of Public Finances about the “ stability program » recently presented by the government.
A little more confident after maintenance of the French rating by the two rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s, last Friday, the Minister of the Economy defends a program of reduced spending, simplification and growth without increasing taxes. A call to the Republicans.
LR procrastinates, no longer speaks explicitly of censorship, but maintains the pressure. “ How can we believe that a government which has let our accounts drift like never before could be credible to achieve the most massive savings in our recent budgetary history? Pull yourself together, because the alert level has been reached as far as we are concerned », insists MP Véronique Louwagie.
Ultimatums from the RN and LFI
But there is no longer any question of requiring an amending finance bill. On the other hand, on the far right and on the left, we are issuing an ultimatum.
“ If, in a month, there is no amended finance bill, we will table a notion of censure, if only so that the Assembly has the opportunity to debate and vote on this budget which has been extensively overhauled », Launches L’Insoumis Éric Coquerel, president of the Finance Commission.
On the far right, the National Rally imposes the same deadline: thirty days before discussing public finances again in the Assembly. Enough to contravene the presidential instruction issued to ministers: to mute budgetary questions deemed anxiety-provoking during this electoral period.
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