France PM unveils 57B investment plan
PRIME Minister Edouard Philippe announced plans yesterday to pour € 57 billion ($67.8 billion) into modernising France’s sluggish economy, with a hefty chunk set aside for making it more environmentally friendly.
Spread over five years, the fund will be slightly bigger than the € 50 billion that centrist Emmanuel Macron had pledged when he was elected president in May.
Philippe said the fund would have an “amplifier effect” on the new government’s reform programme, which includes labour law changes designed to bring down a 9.5 percent unemployment rate.
“It’s about giving power and visibility to our major investment priorities,” Philippe told a press conference.
Twenty billion euros will be used to fund a transition towards a greener economy, Philippe said, including 9 billion for making buildings more energy efficient and € 7 billion for renewable energy development.
The government will spend 9 billion euros on digitising the public sector, € 15 billion extra on training and education, and € 13 billion on broader innovation.
Philippe said some of the funding would come from existing ministerial budgets and some from the European Investment Bank.
Government spokesman Christophe Castaner said earlier that around € 5 billion from the fund was for modernising the agricultural sector in Europe’s biggest food producer.
The launch comes as Macron’s government prepares to announce its first budget on Wednesday.