Emmanuel Macron’s scorecard: has the French president rescued a faltering economy?

“There are going to be some difficult decisions made in his second term about reducing the budget deficit,” said John Springford at the Centre for European Reform.

...“It has been OK overall when compared to growth in other countries in the eurozone,” said John Springford of the Centre for European Reform. “But growth rates don’t really indicate much because we are all bouncing back from a sharp shock. Most economies had very high growth rates in 2021.”

“The problem he faces as it stands is that projected growth post the pandemic is likely to be low and inflation ... will eat in to real wages as it will across Europe,” said Springford. “The question is, therefore, more about potential growth, which is only at about 1.3 per cent a year.” It means Macron will most likely have to tackle fiscal consolidation — or belt tightening.