The French government is scheduled to release an economic stimulus plan with a total investment of 100 billion euro in two years on the evening of 3, hoping to ease the impact of the new epidemic on the French economy by the end of 2022 through measures such as increasing public investment, government subsidies and reducing tax rates.
Reuters reported that government officials disclosed before the release of the plan that 35 billion of the 100 billion euro will be used to improve the competitiveness of France's economy, 30 billion will be used to develop clean energy and 25 billion will be used to support employment. It also includes a previously announced reduction of 10 billion euros in business tax a year.
French President Emmanuel Marcon wants to use the stimulus package to advance his previously promised plan to improve the business environment, and inject large amounts of money into French industry, construction and transportation, so that French economic activity can return to pre epidemic levels by the end of 2022.
French Prime Minister Jean Castell said in an interview with Luxembourg radio and television that he hoped the implementation of the stimulus package could increase 160000 jobs in 2021. "The primary goal of this program is to restart the economy and reduce unemployment."
The French finance ministry has previously predicted that the French economy may suffer the biggest setback since the end of the Second World War, with a contraction rate of 11%.
According to French officials, the transport sector will receive 11 billion euros, of which 4.7 billion will be dedicated to railway construction, and another 6 billion will be invested in energy-saving building renovation projects, of which 4 billion will be used for public buildings and 2 billion will be for residential buildings.
The government will continue to promote the shift of energy mix from fossil fuels to clean energy, including an investment of 2 billion euro for hydrogen energy development.
A total of 600 million euro will be transferred to French factories, including 1 billion euro.
An official said that France's total economic stimulus package is equivalent to 4% of France's GDP. In terms of this proportion, no other major European country has at present exceeded France's economic stimulus plan. Agence France Presse reported that the package is three times larger than the stimulus package introduced by France about 10 years ago to combat the impact of the global financial crisis.
The cost of this stimulus will directly increase France's budget deficit by about 80 billion euros, of which 40 billion will be offset by subsidies from the European Union.