The emergency bill in support of purchasing power passed, with some amendments, in first reading by the Senate on Friday night. But what can we expect from this project? What will bring the French?
Among the measures adopted by the senators is the raising of the cap on the Macron bonus, which goes from 1,000 to 3,000 euros, or even 6,000 euros, in the event of a profit-sharing agreement concluded within the company. The text approved by the Senate also provides for the revaluation of 4% of pensions and various supplements with retroactive effect from July 1, 2022.
Also part of the package of measures is the deconjugation of the disabled adult subsidy (AAH), which allows disabled people to receive the same subsidy, whether or not they live as a couple. Finally, the limitation of the increase in commercial income of SMEs, to 3.5%, was also adopted.
Insufficient effort?
On Thursday, Bruno Le Maire had asked the senators not to exceed the global allocation of 20,000 million and 700 million euros for this bill. If this figure will allow a priori to meet the target of 5% public deficit in 2022, will it be enough to boost the purchasing power of the French in the face of runaway inflation?
“The bill has tried to be pragmatic by distinguishing the economic impacts linked to geopolitical and economic uncertainties and then the impacts on public finances in a structural way,” said Michel Ruimy, economist and professor at Sciences Po on our antenna.
For Dominique Da Silva, a Renaissance deputy for Val-d’Oise, this provision of 20,000 million comes after an initial expenditure of 23,000 million euros made in 2021. “The measures for the purchasing power of the French began last fall by the tariff shield in particular,” he explained. “There is, therefore, 43,000 million euros in measures that will help the French against inflation.”
An opinion not shared by Pascale Hébel, director of Credoc’s Consumer Affairs department who underlined, on our antenna, a “gap” between inflation at 6% and the increase in pensions and allowances at 4%.
“concrete” measures
What counts more than budgetary questions, for the Renaissance senator of the Côte-d’Or François Patriat, are the “concrete” measures that will impact the daily life of the French. This was mentioned by the elected representative of the presidential field discount of 30 euro cents fuel at the pump, which, combined with that of the tankerswill allow approaching the price of 1.50 euros per liter of fuel.
The limitation of the rise in rents, the revaluation of pensions,… “These are measures that will translate specifically into purchasing power,” he congratulated. “All social categories are affected by the social measures of the law of purchasing power,” the elected also estimated.
The economist Michel Ruimy, for his part, does not share this observation. According to him, some French could, in a way, be the “laggards” of this arsenal of measures.
Inequalities before inflation
Especially since inflation does not have the same effect on all French people, according to Pascale Hébel. “Those over 75 are the hardest hit because food inflation will continue to rise,” she said. But “in the weight of the expenses of those over 75, food is stronger,” she explained. The specialist also pointed out “the inequalities linked to the different uses of energy” that lead to “inflation above 6%, especially in rural areas.”
For the economist, this refers to a question that will arise more and more in a context of runaway inflation. “Should the state fully compensate for rising prices and falling purchasing power or should it ask some to bear rising prices a little longer than others?” he asked.
In case of a positive mixed commission on Monday, the text of the law on purchasing power could be adopted next week. On Monday, the Luxembourg Palace will also examine the Finance Law Reform Bill (PLFR) which includes certain measures to support purchasing power.
Source: BFM TV
