The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday he was in favor of the enactment of a "
multi-year rule
" aimed at stabilizing the level of public spending, in order to ultimately reduce the public debt which has soared with the health and economic crisis.
"
I am in favor of our thinking about the establishment of a multi-year rule to stabilize public spending,
" said the minister during a debate on public debt in the Senate.
The objective is, "
when the crisis is behind us
", to initiate the repayment of the public debt, both by counting on the return of growth, but also on a "
control of public expenditure
", specified Bruno. The mayor.
To read also: "The debt, which will have to be paid, deprives France of its capacity for political action"
Currently, governments do not have to meet strict public spending targets.
The last public finance programming law for the period 2018-2022 defined objectives for the development of the growth rate of public expenditure in terms of volume.
But this framework is only an incentive and has not always been respected.
This future rule could, for example, take the form of a spending target across the entire field of public spending, on the model of Ondam for health insurance, we specified at Bercy, stressing that it is only a proposal at this stage.
The ministry is awaiting in particular the forthcoming proposals of the commission mandated to reflect on the management of public finances and chaired by former minister Jean Arthuis.
For Bruno Le Maire, the repayment of the public debt should not go through tax increases, but through the combination of the resumption of growth, control of public spending and reforms, such as pensions.
Recovery plan and mobilize the savings of the French
In order to boost growth, the minister is counting on the recovery plan of 100 billion euros, but also on the mobilization of savings of the French.
He also indicated Tuesday that the ministry is working on a device to "
encourage them to more easily transmit this savings to those who could consume it
", confirming information from
Echoes
.
Public debt jumped 20 points last year to around 120% of GDP, due to the health and economic crisis.
The debt directly resulting from the Covid is estimated by Bercy at 215 billion euros, including 140 billion in the field of the State and 75 billion in the field of social security.
