The executive procrastinates more and more... At the beginning of January, to preserve the purchasing power of the French, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, launched the idea of an "anti-inflation
basket
".
Supposed to meet the needs of a family with children, it was to contain around twenty products – at “
the lowest possible prices
” – before being extended to around fifty references to better reflect French consumption.
Except that a month after drawing the outlines of this project - and a month before the planned date of its launch - the executive now seems to be doing an about-face to leave the thinking in the hands of the distributors.
"
I don't know if it will be an anti-inflation basket
", admitted this Monday morning Bruno Le Maire, on BFMTV.
And to add: “
it will be what distributors will find most useful and most effective
”.
Discussions between these actors, Bruno Le Maire and the Minister of Commerce, Olivia Grégoire, will be held in the coming days.
The objective is to "
find solutions together
" so that the impact of food inflation - at 13.5% over one year according to INSEE - "
is the lowest for our compatriots
", insisted the Minister of Economy.
Read also“Anti-inflation basket”: when the government project is unanimously against it
These exchanges take place at the same time as commercial negotiations between distributors and manufacturers.
It is therefore difficult to lower prices which are not yet fixed between the players.
They also expect an average increase of 10% on food products, from March.
Everyone will therefore have to cut back on their margins in order to offer “
discounted prices
” to their customers.
Read alsoWhy your shopping should cost you more from March
“
I have set March 15 as the deadline to jointly find an operational solution to this increase in food prices
,” added Bruno Le Maire.
Once this solution has been found, the government will closely study the prices set by manufacturers and distributors.
"
We will redo an investigation in the spring to make sure that no one fills their pockets
", also affirms the Minister of the Economy.
