France's newly appointed prime minister Jean Castex detailed his plans to foster recovery from a bruising recession and revamp a controversial pension reform as he laid out his political roadmap in an address to the National Assembly on Wednesday, reports FRANCE 24.
Castex’s speech, his first major test since his appointment earlier this month, comes a day after President Emmanuel Macron promised to ramp up the country’s Covid-19 rescue package and subsidise hirings for youths in a televised interview marking Bastille Day.
Despite billions of euros pledged to minimise the economic damage caused by the virus, questions remain over how Macron's administration will foster recovery from a recession expected to destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs.
"The crisis has confirmed that we must now transform our industry," Castex told lawmakers, stressing that the fallout from the pandemic had underscored the country's over-dependence on imports.
A 100-billion-euro ($114 billion) economic recovery package, to be rolled out on Friday, will include 40 billion euros in support for domestic industry and services, he said, promising to "slash taxes that hold back companies' productive capacities".