"The inflation has started do decline after months of struggling with growing prices. But the question is, after this crisis, will we ever return to the inflation as we knew it before the COVID pandemic? The answer is no," Le Maire told French radio broadcaster.
The minister added that this is due to France's economic course towards the nationalization of a number of key industries and actions to combat climate change.
"There are two structural reasons for that. The first one is that we decided to transfer production chains back to France, and producing electric batteries in France is more expansive than to import them from China. This affects the structural inflation. The second one is climate transition. Its cost will affect the prices in the coming years," the minister said.
According to the report by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), the annual inflation in France fell to 5.1% in May, which is the record low since spring 2022. The institute said it is due to the slowdown in the growth of energy prices.
The growth in food prices slowed down by 0.3%, but remains significantly high year-on-year (14.3%). According to the estimates by the Bank of France, the inflation will reach its peak in the first half of 2023, after which it will gradually slow down and reach about 2% by the end of 2024.