Macron is shown as a stable leader in times of crisis and reformist; Le Pen has opted to present herself as the defender of purchasing power, in a context of concern about the rise in energy and food prices.
Among the measures proposed by Macron in recent times to combat inflationary pressures, he proposes to continue limiting the rise in gas and electricity prices, in addition to indexing pensions to inflation. Among other economic measures, it includes the abolition of the Contribution on the Added Value of companies, the end of the television license fee and postponing the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 65 years (a reform on hold due to the pandemic).
The fall of French stocks and rising bond yields in the days before the first round shows that a v cannot be ruled outMarine Le Pen’s victory. In case this happened, a more negative reaction from the markets is expected, who perceive the far-right candidate as less reliable in terms of public finances. Its program includes the advancement of the retirement age to 60 years for those who started working earlier (estimated cost of 26,000 million euros), the reduction of VAT on energy (10,000 million euros) and a public loan at interest zero to promote home ownership (13,000 million euros).
The economic vision of the far-right leader has changed. Her ideas about exiting the euro or a retirement system at age 60 have been reduced to “protecting” her fellow citizens from the effects of inflation. A package of proposals that are usually tempting, such as the reduction of the tax on energy and fuel, tax exemptions, removal of taxes on basic products, reduction of employer contributions for employers who raise wages, among the most promoted.
The cost of living has been identified as the most relevant issue for the French in this election, as France faces its highest inflation since the late 1990s. The year-on-year inflation rate of the country chaired by Emmanuel Macron stood at 4.5% in March, compared to 3.5% registered the previous month, as a consequence of the acceleration of energy and food price rises in a context marked by the war in Ukraine, as reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee). Although it is not the largest in the countries of the Eurozone, it is hitting the economy in full. Marine Le Pen is not supported by the investor “red circle”, they consider her a “populist”. “The policies that I want to implement are not aimed at the stock markets, which will be a change from Emmanuel Macron. It is not the markets that create jobs,” Le Pen challenged, before the presidential debate.
Faced with the economic situation in Europe, Le Pen proposes to attack inflation and improve the purchasing power of the French. But investors believe that Le Pen’s eventual victory would paint a grim picture for European stocks. In addition, they fear that Len Pen’s economic measures will encourage inflation even more and cause a rise in the reference rates of the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve.
Macron, for his part, already more worn out by the management, toughened his speech: the candidate has promised to cut public spending by 60,000 million euros (64,000 million dollars) a year, in part by making the government more efficient. He said he would eliminate up to 120,000 public jobs that would no longer be filled when the workers who currently hold them retire. Macron is an advocate of free trade and has campaigned for an agreement between the European Union and Canada. He finally assured that he would consider changes to the 35-hour work week.
Source: Ambito
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