New figures released on cost of living in France

PURCHASING power has become one of the main concerns of the French. It's a sensitive subject, statisticians and households do not necessarily see things the same way. While the French are convinced that their purchasing power has declined, the National Institute reported a marked increase over 2007.

The gap between both sides has raised a number of issues, but it illustrates the great complexity of a subject that affects the daily lives of millions of French residents.

Figures published yesterday by the European office Eurostat also confirmed that France would perform rather better than other EU member states. According to the survey, food prices in France rose by 5.5% over a year in April. This increase amounted to 7.1% for the entire EU, almost twice the level of inflation, which was at 3.6% in April, a level that the IMF describes as "embarrassing ".

The price increase of food, raw materials and oil weighs heavily on the morale of French, who have come out in protests in the streets on several occasions in recent weeks. At the same time it puts pressure on the government, forced to try to put in place measures that will restore purchasing power to the French, as was promised in the Goverment's manifesto.

Nicolas Sarkozy wants to convince the French that incentive reform unveiled at the beginning of last week is going in the right direction. The government is gambling that increased competition will succeed in bringing down prices.

Meanwhile, the price of gas, which has already increased twice since the beginning of the year, could again be revised upwards in July. The Socialist opposition has asked the government "not to carry out a third increase that would further weaken purchasing power."

source: www.sudouest.com