“France is far from being bankrupt,” assures Éric Coquerel, LFI president of the Finance Commission

INSEE revealed on Tuesday that France’s public deficit finally reached 5.5% of GDP in 2023.

France “is not on the verge of a financial abyss because France is far from being bankrupt”, assured this Tuesday on franceinfo Éric Coquerel, LFI deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis and president of the Finance Commission. The figure for France’s official public deficit in 2023 has fallen: 5.5% of GDP, according to INSEE. This is far from the 4.9% that the executive planned, but above all from the symbolic bar of 3%, the objective set by the European Union for all member states.

“It is a succession of estimation errors by the government and also the fact of not only underestimating growth, but underestimating the effects of its policy on growth”, judged Éric Coquerel. Government policy “leads him to make this kind of error of judgment that most financial institutions or MPs like me had unfortunately predicted”underlined the MP.

This budgetary slippage is due in particular to the slowdown in growth and the drop in tax revenue. The Minister of the Economy confirmed this Tuesday that the 10 billion euros in savings announced will not be enough. There will be “extra effort” to do, he said Tuesday on RTL. “Clearly, this government intends to make the French pay, reduce social benefits, reduce public spending”deplores Éric Coquerel.

The question of taxation of superprofits

“We have to get the money from superdividends. There are at least 15 billion euros to be recovered quite easily”but also, “take an interest in public aid to businesses which is unrequited”. If “we will look at the reduction in aid to businesses, tax loopholes and the taxation of super profits, we arrive at 43 billion”he assures.

The majority hesitates on the question of taxing superprofits. But for the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, “there must be no taboo”. “I have thought for a long time that in this assembly, there is a majority in favor”affirmed the LFI deputy.

A debate on public finances will be organized at the National Assembly on April 29, franceinfo learned from parliamentary sources this Tuesday, confirming information from AFP. “It’s a debate on the orientation law” public finances and “not quite” about “the budget we are talking about at the moment”specified Éric Coquerel.