For five weeks he has been preparing, reviewing interview reports, rereading his text messages and searching his memory to save his political future and explode. “the truth”said. On Thursday, November 7, the former Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, who left Bercy on September 21, leaving behind a public deficit much more serious than announced, begins his defense. Hearing in the Senate, within the framework of an information mission on the worsening of public finances, the current professor in Lausanne, Switzerland, denies any lie or attempt at concealment. “For months I have heard too much that the minister talks nonsense to not tell my truth”says. In front of him, the senators, bellicose, ironically about their “fireworks of self-satisfaction”.
In 2024, the deficit of the State, local authorities and Social Security was initially expected to return to 4.4% of gross domestic product (GDP). In fact, it risks reaching 6.1% of GDP. This is a deficit equivalent to 50 billion euros. “A deterioration of exceptional magnitude outside a period of crisis”according to the Superior Council of Public Finances. Overly optimistic forecasts, bad calculations, lack of responsiveness from the ministry, as many parliamentarians suspect?
“There was no guilt, no concealment, no desire to deceive, but rather a serious error in the assessment of income to which I responded with determination”, says Bruno Le Maire before the senators. In his eyes, the” hurricane “ budgetary is “80% consolidated” to an erroneous assessment of the income from Bercy’s services, an assessment over which the former Minister claims to have had no say. In front of a “sudden deterioration” of the economic situation and “exceptional collapse” tax revenue, “We have done everything possible to preserve the restoration of our public accounts”says. “We did things quickly and seriously” and in a “total transparency”appeal.
“Victim of a real lynching”
In the heart of a “state scandal”, According to the opposition, Bruno Le Maire settles scores for more than two hours. He attacks elected officials everywhere who, during Covid-19 and the inflation crisis, asked him to take action totaling “almost 400 billion euros.” “I resisted”He declares without fear of splashing his family. “Praise God, the minister does not decide everything alone in his office”remember. The former member of the Les Républicains (LR) party, converted to Macronism in 2017, believes he has served, in recent weeks, as a scapegoat. “I am the victim of a real lynching”criticized during a lunch at the Elysée on October 24 in the presence of the head of state and former prime ministers Elisabeth Borne and Gabriel Attal, displeased by the lack of support from their side. “The target is Emmanuel Macron’s economic record. “If you let the attacks continue, you will lose.”, he warned.
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