This Wednesday morning, François Villeroy De Galhau, whose reappointment at the head of the Bank of France was proposed by the President of the Republic, was auditioned at the National Assembly. And it is an understatement to say that the senior official did not mince words when talking about the necessary transformation of the public service.
"The public service can be a great asset for our country, rather than this heavy and backward-looking weight that we too often describe
," he said first.
"On condition of being in motion and not in conservation, open to the economy and society and not withdrawn behind its procedures and its counters,"
he then insisted.
A speech that may seem all the more surprising coming from the one who heads one of the oldest French institutions (the Banque de France, therefore -, which sometimes has trouble getting rid of its old-fashioned image! And yet ... minutes in front of parliamentarians, François Villeroy de Galhau endeavored to show the opposite, rejecting the cliché of “the ivory tower”:
“Through the experience of the Banque de France and its two strategic plans (Ambitions 2020 and Building together 2024) we believe we can say without pretension that the public service can unite four virtues: innovative in its missions, efficient in its management, visible to our fellow citizens, attractive to its agents ”.
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And to show how much the institution has transformed, he cited an avalanche of figures: it has reduced its total net spending by 13% over the past six years, the equivalent of 137 million euros in savings. money each year, and will keep them stable by 2024. It also reduced the workforce by 22%, to 9,373 at the end of 2021 (and less than 8,800 expected at the end of 2024), as people retire but while continuing to recruit talent.
In short,
"a better public service must be provided at the best cost"
, he said.
François Villeroy de Galhau will appear in front of the senators at the end of the afternoon and, barring any surprises, his renewal will be announced at the Council of Ministers on October 27.