France’s new government reaffirmed the country’s pledge to lower debt after the COVID-19 pandemic forced President Emmanuel Macron to carry out an unprecedented spending splurge to prevent the economy from crashing.
“I will be a relentless craftsman in keeping our public accounts in a context that we know is difficult,” Gabriel Attal, France’s new budget minister, said in a speech Saturday in Paris as he took office. France must “stay on the path” of debt lowering because it’s “crucial for the solidity of our economy, the confidence in our country and the future of our young generations.”
When Macron initially took office in 2017, he sought to use technical rigor to cut back the economy’s reliance on borrowing and ease rules restraining business activity. But the pandemic forced him to change course and embrace a “whatever it costs” approach. The ministers of his new government will be walking a fine line as they seek to rein in public spending while simultaneously trying to limit the fallout from the cost-of-living crisis.
