Confidential. Note to the President of the Republic. Paris on April 6, 2024. The inscription in the header of the letter sent by Bruno Le Maire to Emmanuel Macron, revealed this Sunday on the show C dans l’air broadcast on France 5, indicates the importance of its contents: a warning about irregularities in public accounts.
“We cannot continue to stand out because of our high levels of spending and levies,” wrote the Minister of Economy at the time: “The problem is France’s political credibility in Europe. A proactive strategy will maintain our credibility and the quality of our economic results. »
In May 2024, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire was summoned by the Senate for allegedly hiding information about France’s budget gap from the government. #cdanslair revealed the letter he sent to the president at the time regarding this. pic.twitter.com/gRNeemLBni
— C dans l’air (@Cdanslair) November 9, 2025
Bruno Le Maire, who has been regularly described as “the man with a debt of 1,000 billion” by the opposition since then, has nevertheless now called on Emmanuel Macron for “an ambitious strategy to control our public finances, to return below the 3% deficit by 2027, in line with (the president’s) commitments »
“Spirit of courage and bravery”
The Minister of Economy at that time referred to the limit, at European Union level, of public deficit set at 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) based on the Stability Pact which also limits debt at 60% of GDP.
In this letter, he asks for changes to the financial law (LFR) and additional savings of 15 billion euros to limit the deficit to 4.9% by 2024 – which will eventually be 5.8%. “In the absence of LFR, we will immediately open litigation with all opposition parties, who will unite against us and accuse us of insincerity,” he wrote.
“It is important to present several of these savings objects simultaneously,” continued Bruno Le Maire. “Our political interest is to maintain the spirit of courage and bravery that characterizes you. Any strategy of avoidance is doomed to failure,” concluded the Minister of Economy at the time, signing off “with his faithful friendship.”
