The Saturday “yellow vest” protests have often degenerated into rioting and violent clashes in Paris and other French cities (Pascal PAVANI )

Paris (AFP) – The total cost of measures announced by the French government to ease taxes and boost spending power in response to months of fierce anti-government protests now stands at 17 billion euros ($19 billion), Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday.

“The tax cuts will mainly by financed by lower public spending,” Le Maire told France 2 television.

President Emmanuel Macron last week unveiled tax cuts worth five billion euros ($5.5 billion) as he tries to quell nearly six months of protests by “yellow vest” demonstrators who say their living standards have plunged.

He also promised to lift a freeze on pension increases for low-income retirees, which the finance ministry expects to cost 1.4 billion euros.

And the decision to create a minimum pension payout of 1,000 euros a month will cost several hundreds of millions of euros.

The measures come on top of a package of tax cuts and income top-ups worth 10 billion euros that Macron announced in December after the first month of protests.

The Saturday protests have often degenerated into rioting in Paris and other French cities, taking the wind out of Macron’s pro-business reform drive to bolster the economy.

Le Maire said the fiscal relief would apply mainly to people in the two lowest tax brackets of 14 percent and 30 percent, cutting average annual tax bills by 180 to 350 euros per household.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe huddled with ministers Monday to lay out a six-month roadmap for implementing the “yellow vest” measures and confirmed that many would be financed by closing some of France’s myriad company tax loopholes.

“I understand the impatience and the desire to move quickly, but we have to move both quickly and correctly,” he told journalists after the meeting.

Business leaders and some economists have warned of the cost of Macron’s measures, not least as the French economy shows little signs of improving.

Statistics office Insee reported Tuesday that French GDP expanded 0.3 percent in the first quarter, the same rate as in the previous two quarters and below its forecast for 0.4 percent growth.

The GDP increase was due in large part to a jump in household spending since the beginning of the year, which helped offset a decline in exports.

“It’s a positive element, but it’s the least we could expect after the poor figures from late 2018, and especially after the 10 billion euros of emergency measures announced in December because of the yellow vest movement,” said Stephane Colliac, an economist at French insurer Euler Hermes.

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.