Increase in taxes: the government will “appeal, exceptionally and temporarily, to those who can” pay

Will you pay more taxes under Michel Barnier’s government? At the end of a first government seminar, this Friday, the Prime Minister promises in an interview with the Journal de Saône-et-Loire to protect “from any tax increase” those “who work, who produce”, while what is outlined an increase in levies to deal with an unprecedented deficit.

“On the question of taxation, I said that I would protect from any tax increase those who are on the ground, who work, who produce,” explains Michel Barnier. We will appeal, on an exceptional and temporary basis, to those who can contribute to this effort. »

A deficit of more than 6%?

The Prime Minister must resolve the squaring of the budgetary circle, with a deficit which could exceed 6% of GDP in 2024. Since this announcement on Wednesday, “at 5 years, we are borrowing more expensively than Greece”, lamented a participant in the seminar government, this Friday, before which the governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, had been invited as an expert. “To reach a 3% deficit in 2028 and after, the step in 2025 will be very high,” underlined the same source.

“I said when I arrived on the steps of Matignon that everyone was going to have to roll up their sleeves, because the situation of this debt of 3,100 billion, a deficit today of more than 6%, is a situation which concerns everyone, every family. The effort must therefore be fair, balanced and concerted,” adds Michel Barnier in this interview.

The Prime Minister is due to make his first official trip this Saturday since the appointment of his government. He is expected in Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire), with Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, for the national congress of French firefighters.