Former Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, criticized for his role in the public debt explosion, counterattacks in a podcast. He accuses oppositions of trickery for demanding more spending during the Covid and inflation crises. He claims to have contained the debt despite pressures.
Bruno Le Maire, briefly Minister of Armies and former head of Bercy, responded to his critics in the first episode of François Lenglet's video podcast, released Friday evening. Nicknamed 'Monsieur 1000 milliards de dette' for his alleged role in the public finances slippage, he denounces the oppositions' 'fourberie' (trickery).
'What trickery! What trickery first from all those who during the Covid crisis, during the inflation crisis, kept asking me to spend more. Who all circulated in my office, knocked on the door and said "We need more for the bakers, for the artisans, for the shopkeepers, we need stronger aid on electricity, on gas. You can't unplug the aids, you can't withdraw the whatever it takes". They all came to moan and cry in my office for me to spend more,' fumed the former minister.
He targets all parties, 'the right, the oppositions, the National Rally, all,' who filed amendments representing 'tens of billions of euros in additional spending.' Today, 'it's the same ones who come to tell me "1000 billion euros of debt"', he lashes out, assuming responsibility for protecting 'employees, paying salaries, protecting artisans, SMEs and shopkeepers.'
Upon arriving at Bercy in 2017, the debt was at 2200 billion euros; upon his departure in September 2024, it reached 3300 billion, an increase of 1100 billion. In the second quarter of 2025, it exceeded 3400 billion, at 115.6% of GDP, with a 185 billion increase since his departure. Le Maire claims to have 'contained the debt,' for example by removing the gas and electricity tariff shield. Without him, 'it wouldn't be 1000 billion euros of debt but 2000,' he estimates, regretting not being able to do better. Now teaching at the E4S center in Lausanne and consulting for ASML, he criticizes the political class for its hypocrisy.