Influence the candidatesFact remains that further efforts are necessary

Nine months of the presidential election, the Government may be happy: he had just received the encouragement of the international monetary Fund (IMF), which, in its traditional note of July, said yesterday the positive effect of the reforms in recent years. "The France has further changed in recent years that it perceives generally, explains the organization in preamble, pensions and health insurance reforms have improved the fiscal Outlook in the long term, while the increased flexibility of the labour and product market market increased economic efficiency."

Exercise teaching

However, point out the Washington experts, the reforms are adopted successfully in the hexagon therefore that they were "clearly explained to the public" and that a "consensus" has been found with economic actors. Which is not been the case when Dominique de Villepin tried to impose the SCE or when he invoked economic patriotism in the Suez-GDF folder. According to them, this last concept is misleading because, assimilated to protectionism, "it goes against the higher interests of the France".

Subject to the necessary teaching efforts, however, the results are here and the IMF therefore reinforces the optimism of the Finance Minister, Thierry Breton. In 2006, observed the Organization, growth should be "online" with the assumptions in the budget, i.e. in the range of 2 to 2.5. And, over the medium term, the potential growth should remain "in about 2 per year. Thus, the international institution considers that the objective of bringing the public deficit to 2.8 of GDP this year is "at hand". Best: the weight of the public debt should be "lightened", according to the promise of the tenant in Bercy, after a peak at 66.6 of the GDP last year.

Influence the candidates

Fact remains that further efforts are necessary. As such, the IMF hopes to influence the candidates in the presidential election. "The electoral calendar provides the opportunity to place the major economic issues at the centre of an enlightened public debate," advance, citing unemployment, public finances, the securing of career paths and the law of competition, but also the teaching and research. If he "welcomed" the intention of the Government to reduce spending of the State of 1 by volume next year, the IMF considers the overall level of public spending too high and is concerned about the proliferation of tax expenditures. It also deplores the lack of political ambition for replacement of officials starting to retreat, "an opportunity that the authorities are being let go."

The IMF, should also moderate the adjustment of social benefits, halt the expansion of social programs and, especially, stop to increase the minimum wage every year, a measure that weighs on the estimates of employment and compressed wages at the bottom. According to him, it would be better to finance an increase in the premium for the job to support the return to active life, and put an end to the partial approaches to the labour market, "which can lead to disappointing results in the creation of jobs", even if the new contract hires (CNE) has positive effects.