In search of savings for the 2024 budget, the Government has identified 2,500 million euros of “potential cash surplus” within state operators, according to a first balance published this Monday of the public spending reviews launched by the executive.
By mandate of the government, the General Inspectorate of Finance evokes “a potential cash surplus estimated at 2,500 million euros over the cash declared as unallocated and mobilizable” of these operators, such as Météo France or Pôle emploi.
“In the short term, the finance law (which will be presented in September, editor’s note) must in certain cases adjust the direct and indirect financing of the State to the operators to reduce surpluses”, specifies this “report on the evaluation of the quality of public action” released this Monday by the Ministry of Finance, which has shown for months its intention to control public spending.
In the first quarter, France’s public debt exceeded 3,000 trillion euros (112.5% of GDP) for the first time, according to INSEE. Among the twelve areas of public action that the administration is studying to prepare the next budgets, tax expenditures related to the ecological transition occupy a prominent place.
End of reduced rates for construction and freight transport players
As has been mentioned in recent weeks, the Government thus plans to progressively align, “between 2024 and 2030, the reduced excise taxes on energy from which various economic sectors benefit over the normal diesel rate”. The reduced rates enjoyed by players in the construction, agriculture and freight transport industries should disappear, with a “first step” of the 2024 budget, the economy ministry said during a press conference.
The report published this Monday also suggests suppressing “the intermediate VAT rate of 10% in home improvement works other than energy rehabilitation” and ending “local tax exemptions favorable to the artificialization of soils.” The free jobs system, which could lead to “significant unexpected effects”, would also benefit from being “transformed and refocused”.
On the controversial issue of daily allowances (IJ) paid by Health Insurance, “the mission highlights a long-term trend towards higher volumes and an increasing locus of long IJ,” but is content to recommend improved tracking of these expenditures. “These conclusions constitute a basis for reflection to enrich the work of budgetary programming, in collaboration with Parliament”, insists the administration.
Source: BFM TV
