The “general expenses of the Nation,” must fall according to the Bank of France

The culture of the management and of the company spreads to the breast of the Bank of France. This Thursday, presenting his letter to the president of the Republic and Parliament, as introductory of the annual report of the institution, the governor of the central bank, François Villeroy de Galhau, described the urgency of a resumption in hand of the expenses of the State in a language that is very corporate :

“In terms of public expenditure, the anomaly French is evident : the overhead costs of the Nation are much heavier than those of our european neighbours. Their evolution has been utterly fantastic. “

“If France does not reverse, in the coming years, its long drift of public finances, it will be subject to a double negative shock : a shock of competitiveness, and a shock of sovereignty, in the face of rising interest rates, by putting themselves at the mercy of the financial markets. If it has not returned to the control of public expenditure, the interest on the debt will absorb all margins of manoeuvre clear, ” said François Villeroy de Galhau.

The Bank of France has itself set a target of 20% reduction of its workforce and 10% of net spending over five years by 2020.

Dare to reforms, fight against annuities

In a position very political, which echoes the recent audit of the Court of auditors, the governor of the Bank of France, an institution independent ” since 1993 “, has argued that a stabilization of public expenditure in volume there would be “no effect is recessive : there must be a better allocation of expenditures, and questions about the effectiveness of these expenditures, that he does” not question “.

It is kept to designate which expenses should be decreased, whereas the growth of the French economy could reach 1.6% this year, a ” real recovery, even if it remains moderate. “. But he invited the executive and the Parliament to ” dare the reforms are necessary and possible “. In particular :

“The overabundance of regulations, which is perhaps not a French exception but a feature of French, called a massive effort and structured simplifications : on the labour market and on the goods and services. It is necessary to fight against a number of annuities, for example in the rail transport, the field of health and medical professions “, citing the examples of success in the telephony and job creation in the sector VTC.

A speech worthy of a president of the Competition Authority.

No question of easing the financial regulation

However, this ” plethora of regulations “, which has regularly complained about the banking profession, would not apply to the financial sphere.

“Ten years after the financial crisis, huge progress has been made on the regulation of banking and non-banking to improve financial security. However, it is not a question of a release : the vigilance must remain high. It is necessary to fight against the temptations of dilution of the regulation post-crisis. “

He pointed to the rise of debt in the world, a concern in particular in the emerging countries for households and businesses. The debt of French companies has also increased, and it is recommended to encourage them to finance more heavily by equity.

“The banking and financial regulation is not the result of a bureaucracy that is tyrannical and blind. Overall, given what happened during the financial crisis, it was a good set of safety rules. This does not mean that you can’t simplify, such or such a questionnaire [to be completed by banks, editor’s note] and we look at it with the ACPR [French prudential supervisory Authority and resolution, ed.] ” he responded.

The governor, ex-general manager of BNP Paribas group, does not consider it necessary to do more to increase the intensity of competition in the sector in France :

“Much has been made in the fight against the annuities, including the provisions on banking mobility, [law Macron in force since February, and the effects up to now limited to, editor’s note]. The rate of interest margins on lending to enterprises are among the lowest in the euro area and the interchange fee on card payments have fallen considerably. France has, in general, rather one of the banking systems among the most competitive “, he said happily.

Like this post? Please share to your friends:
Leave a Reply