“This is probably our last audition, at least for this five-year term. » It was a speech in the form of a goodbye delivered by Bruno Le Maire before the finance committee of the National Assembly, Wednesday, January 26. One month from the end of the parliamentary session, the Minister of the Economy and the Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, Olivier Dussopt, were agreed on the finances for the year 2021.
But Mr. Le Maire and Mr. Dussopt, wishing to include their action in the next five-year period, also engaged in a projection exercise. Objective: to demonstrate that the “whatever the cost”, which made it possible to overcome the health crisis, does not prevent anticipating the recovery of public accounts by 2027.
“With our majority, we are giving the French people a solid, attractive economy that creates jobs”, welcomed the Bercy tenant, stating that he had “the feeling of accomplishment”. “I don’t fear the effects of Omicron on growth for 2022”, he assured, recalling that the gross domestic product (GDP) is still expected to rise by 4% this year.
For 2021, growth should be around 6.7%, and the public deficit will amount to “just over 7%”, ie almost one point less than the estimate of the last amending budget presented in the autumn and voted in December (8.2%). And this, thanks to higher tax revenues of 20 billion euros than forecast. Corn “it’s not a pot”, specified the Minister, recalling that these sums will be “allocated entirely to debt reduction”.
Maintaining the public deficit forecast of 5% for 2022
In detail, the State deficit, although historically high, has improved significantly, to 171 billion euros, down by seven billion compared to 2020, but above all by 34 billion compared to the previous one. forecast. Corporate tax, in particular, brought in 9.9 billion euros more than expected. “A real surprise, conceded Mr. Dussopt, which can be partly explained by only partial consideration of the reduction in the corporate tax rate by companies [il suit une trajectoire de baisse depuis 2017, pour atteindre 25 % en 2022]. »
The strength of household consumption, it made it possible to record 3.6 billion in additional VAT receipts, while the yield from income tax swelled by 1.6 billion. At the same time, the State spent nine billion less than expected in the fall, and the strong recovery in employment boosted the receipts of social security contributions.
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