Since the appointment of Michel Barnier’s new government, “political debate has raged, […] we tend to get angry, arguing about one of the solutions, which is a certain tax increase,” he added. According to François Villeroy de Galhau, “we have to pose the question in a simpler way: when a family lives beyond its means and cannot make ends meet, and this is the case in France, we can either reduce our expenses or increase our income.”
“Fairness”
“The common sense is that we have to do both at the moment, we need a proportional combination of both measures. It is not up to the Bank of France to decide, it is up to the democratic debate with the government and Parliament. I believe that the right proportion is mainly spending savings for about three quarters, and undoubtedly a recourse to certain targeted and fair tax increases for another quarter,” he estimated.
On September 17, François Villeroy de Galhau suggested “an extraordinary and sensible effort towards certain big companies and big taxpayers” to reduce the deficit. On Wednesday, the central bank governor also suggested “looking at what works among our neighbors,” because “we will soon be the only European country that cannot get its debt below 3%” and “we are no more stupid than our European neighbors.”
