Purchasing power: the new aid promised by Emmanuel Macron

A new evening to convince. Emmanuel Macron was the guest of France 2 on Wednesday October 26 in the program L’Evènement, hosted by Caroline Roux. For the second time, the Head of State answered the journalist’s questions, this time on national politics and current issues. Retirement, immigration, motions of censure… Many subjects were raised, including which purchasing power.

This is not a surprise, the latter is at the heart of the concerns of the French, who are hit hard by inflation. This is why it was mentioned during the first minutes of this interview. Referring to the current “crisis”, Emmanuel Macron recalled that “the war which is returning to Europe has multiple consequences: on energy, prices”. The first of these is the increase in electricity and gas prices, which will be around 15%: “It’s a lot, but it’s much less than it should be. There where there should have been 100%, it will be 15%”, specified the President of the Republic.

Energy prices are not the only ones to increase and the French are noticing it in particular at the supermarket. Should wages be indexed to inflation to resolve the situation? Emmanuel Macron opposed it, declaring that “this is not the solution, otherwise, we maintain a price increase and this price-wage loop cannot be stopped”. He nevertheless wanted to send a message to companies, explaining: “There is no lasting value if it is not shared. We want to make the employee dividend: when there is an increase in dividends for shareholders, there must be a similar mechanism for employees”.

And the concrete help in all this? During this interview on France 2, Emmanuel Macron promised to “protect the weakest”, saying: “We will weather this storm together”. From January 2023, aid will therefore be “targeted” to those who need it most. “Yes, we will continue to help, but in a targeted way. We will strengthen the measures for students, with our Crous and the associations with which we work”, he specified. The Head of State also mentioned the “big rollers”: “For fuel there will be this mechanism for big rollers, who will benefit from a refund on long journeys”.

The government also intends to “guarantee a reasonable price” of electricity for “local authorities and small and medium-sized enterprises”. These terms are to be unveiled this Friday, October 28.