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France's Le Pen Accuses Gov't of 'Pickpocketing' French in Attempt to Cut Budget Deficit

© AP Photo / Daniel ColeFrench right-wing politician Marine Le Pen delivers a speech during a meeting in Avignon, south of France, Thursday, April 14, 2022. Le Pen is trying to unseat centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who has a slim lead in polls ahead of France's April 24 presidential runoff election. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
French right-wing politician Marine Le Pen delivers a speech during a meeting in Avignon, south of France, Thursday, April 14, 2022. Le Pen is trying to unseat centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who has a slim lead in polls ahead of France's April 24 presidential runoff election. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) - Sputnik International, 1920, 28.03.2024
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PARIS (Sputnik) - Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French right-wing National Rally party's parliamentary faction, has said that the government's reform of social security for the unemployed is an attempt to "pickpocket" the French to reduce the national budget deficit caused by the authorities' failures.
On Wednesday, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the government would implement a social security reform for the unemployed in 2024. The reform provides, in particular, for reducing in the payment period for unemployment benefits from 18 months to "not less than 12 months." Attal's announcement was made after a report showed that the budget deficit in the country stood at 5.5% of GDP in 2023, which is 0.6% more than predicted by the finance ministry.

"The reform of social security for the unemployed is a fraud with one single goal of pickpocketing the French to save government accounts that are in deficit due to the authorities' incompetence," Le Pen wrote on X on Wednesday, adding that the system was working well and there was no need to reform it.

Meanwhile, Attal himself said that the only goal of the reform was to convince the French to return to work.
France's unemployment rate stood at 7.5% of the labor force in the fourth quarter of 2023, growing by 0.4% percentage points in a year, data provided by France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.
French presidential election candidate for the far-right Front National party, Marine Le Pen, left, and French presidential election candidate for the En Marche ! movement, Emmanuel Macron, pose prior to the start of a live broadcast face-to-face televised debate in La Plaine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, May 3, 2017. It's meant to be the climax of France's presidential campaign. Centrist French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right contender Marine Le Pen are facing each other Wednesday April 20, 2022 evening in a one-on-one televised debate that promises to be challenging for both of them _ and may be decisive ahead of Sunday's runoff vote.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 27.02.2024
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French Civil Servants' ‘Secret’ Meetings With Le Pen Show Macron’s Waning Influence — Report
Earlier in March, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that the government was planning to cut budget expenditures by 20 billion euros, that is by 10 billion euros in 2024 and 2025 each. To return to a 3% budget deficit — the goal that the finance ministry is planning to achieve by 2027 — it is necessary to save about 50 billion euros between 2025 and 2027, the French Court of Audit said.
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