Get out of the political discourse and go back to the economic situation and “realize the demands of reality”. Banque de France governor four days after the second round of legislative elections Francois Villeroy de Galhau warns of the risks and asks political leaders to avoid “excessive wage costs” for businesses.
French information was questioned regarding the proposal of the New Popular Front to increase the minimum wage by more than 200 euros. 1 600 euros net, the head of the Bank of France is firm. Even if the evaluations on one or the other dimension are not quantified, “I believe that in economic competition, our SMEs, our business cannot be measured by excessive wage costs, including the minimum wage. taxes are very heavyetc,” he explained, adding: “It would be very bad for immediate employment and very bad for purchasing power in the long run. »
For Marc Sanchez, president of the Union of Independents (SDI), the additional cost of raising the minimum wage to €1,600 net would simply be “intolerable”. Including social security payments, this will add 530-540 euros per month, which means an additional annual cost of 18,000 euros for an entrepreneur with three employees”;
The Banque de France has already reported that uncertainty among entrepreneurs is “at its highest level” since 2022, which the governor proposed to dispel in order to “tell the truth” and “recognize the demands of reality”.
“We spend more than we pay in taxes”
“The reality is that our economy has strengths, we are the 7th economy in the world, 30 million French people work, there are many successful companies… We need to strengthen these assets,” he said, “two main weaknesses of the French economy.”
“We buy more than we produce, which gives us our external deficit,” the governor said. And “we spend far more than we pay in taxes, including social costs and pensions. This leads to a budget deficit,” Francois Villeroy de Galhau concluded.