"It's very complicated to implement, I won't hide it from you".
While the government is preparing the creation of a food check for the most precarious, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire has not hidden the difficulties in the implementation of this measure, at a time when fears resurface on the purchasing power.
The government expects "a first report in mid-October and a final report of proposals at the beginning of January 2022", declared the minister on RMC / BFMTV.
Its implementation will not take place "before 2022", he said.
The creation of this sustainable food check was announced in mid-December 2020 by Emmanuel Macron before the Citizen's Climate Convention.
Its establishment was definitively adopted in the climate and resilience law passed in July in Parliament.
It would be intended for precarious households in order to buy local, sustainable or even organic products.
“It's very complicated to implement, I won't hide it from you.
A solution of this type, we must ensure that it can work, ”said Bruno Le Maire Monday, refuting any blockage of his ministry.
Bercy wants to ensure "that the money goes to those who really need it", he justified.
No boost for the minimum wage
The question of household purchasing power resurfaces in this fall, when inflation is regaining ground in France, as elsewhere in the world, thanks to the economic recovery. In particular, energy prices are experiencing strong increases. The regulated gas tariff notably jumped by nearly 10% in July, 5% in August and another 8.7% on September 1. An increase is also expected on the regulated electricity tariff in February 2022, less than three months before the presidential election.
“We have increased the energy check (…) it is for me one of the appropriate solutions to the increase in energy prices,” Bruno Le Maire defended on Monday.
The government has this year increased the number of beneficiaries of this check, who are now more than 5.8 million to receive an average amount of 150 euros.
Bruno Le Maire also said he was opposed to a government boost on the minimum wage at the end of the year.
This could however record an "automatic revaluation" on October 1, based on inflation, recalled the minister.
Prices accelerated by 1.9% over one year in August, according to a provisional figure released last week by INSEE.
