After a historic slippage in France's finances, the government is up against the wall. Faced with an increasingly alarming situation, certain deputies of the presidential majority are now pleading to go against the sacrosanct Macronist rule prohibiting any increase in taxes. However, this hypothesis still seems highly improbable as 85% of French people say they are opposed to this possibility according to an Odoxa-Backbone Consulting survey for
Le Figaro
.
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Well aware of the taboo, Gabriel Attal tried to reassure on the set of TF1 on Wednesday March 27:
“We have always said that we would not increase taxes,”
he declared. If the Prime Minister spoke of
“levers”
to try to restore color to public finances, the French do not believe in the abilities of the Macron camp to restore public finances. Thus, 63% of them say they do not trust the head of government to reduce the debt and the public deficit. An even more pronounced disavowal for Bruno Le Maire (66%), despite being Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017, and especially for Emmanuel Macron (75%), despite being described as the
“Mozart of Finance”
during his election. Worse, if the French now trust the National Rally (33%) more than the Renaissance (23%) to reduce the deficit.
Although it never existed, the time when the French were little concerned about the rules of good public management is over. Three-quarters of them (75%) believe
“that it would be serious”
if France
“failed to achieve its objective of less than 3% deficit”
in 2027. To try to save money, the French 54% argue for a reduction in the number of civil servants, 52% for a reduction in social assistance.
Finally, the prospect of a downgrade of France's rating by the rating agencies between the end of April and the end of April greatly worries the French. Thus, 82% declare that a deterioration would have
“serious consequences”
for the French economy and almost half (48%) for
“their personal situation”
.