Question of purchasing power is reinvited to government’s agenda and Emmanuel Macron

While food prices are burying, the Ministry of Economy relies on a gesture of large distribution. Bruno Le Maire spoke of March 15 as a deadline to find “a solution”.

by Audrey Tonnelier

Here is the purchasing power. Stacked since the beginning of the year in the pension reform, which transformed the National Assembly into the ring and brought down in the street of the hundreds of thousands of people, the executive is caught up in the subject who had occupied him A good part of 2022: inflation, and its consequences on the French portfolio. If the outbreak of energy prices, the fear of power cuts and even the prospect of an economic recession is moving away, it is the rise in food prices that gives cold sweats, at the Elysée as in Bercy .

Emmanuel Macron again discussed the subject on Wednesday 1 Mars in the Council of Ministers, just after that of the pension reform. For the head of state, the cause is understood: the government has played its role by putting in place since last year a price shield that caps gas and electricity bills – tightened since January to let increases pass 15 %. The French paid their share by cutting off on their purchasing power. The ball is therefore now in the camp of commercial brands. “Those who have to make an effort on their margins are the distributors,” he said on Saturday February 25, during his visit to the Agricultural Show, asking the Carrefour, Leclerc and other Auchan a ” Collective commitment “, insofar as” they make profits “.

Questioned on the subject, Tuesday, February 28, during questions to the government, Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, assured that he would present “in the coming days (…) effective and credible measures that will allow Once again to France (…) to contain inflation, with the support of distributors “. Last week, he spoke on March 15 as a deadline to find “a solution” to this file. “The government acts. We make sure that prices are broken on everyday products,” added the government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, Wednesday, on BFM-TV and RMC.

The fear of a “red March”

In fact, inflation rose to 6.2 % in February over a year, compared to 6 % in January, the INSEE announced on Tuesday. Worse, food labels swelled by 14.5 % over this period. Enough to fear a “red March”, the sector is alarmed. Annual negotiations between industrialists and distributors, which were to be completed on Wednesday evening at midnight on Wednesday evening, could lead to additional 10 %average increases, warned Jacques Creyssel, the director general of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution on Tuesday, Franceinfo .

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