Emmanuel Macron branded 'hero of the rich' for cutting taxes for the wealthiest in new French budget

Budget plans to cut taxes by €10bn and make €15bn worth of cuts

The cuts will apply to government expenditure on the public health care system, housing benefits and transport (AFP/Getty)

Emmanuel Macron has come under criticism for cutting taxes for the rich and slashing public spending in his first annual budget.

The French budget, which was presented at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, plans to cut taxes by €10bn next year and includes €15bn worth of cuts.

The centrist politician’s plan to balance tax cuts with spending cuts in an attempt to reduce France’s deficit will see both households and businesses benefit from the reductions in tax.

Left-wing opponents took aim at the 39-year-old former banker’s plans to axe a tax on financial investments which amassed €3.5bn last year.

Centre-left publication Liberation hit out at Mr Macron’s economic vision by running a front-page headlined “Hero of the rich”, alongside a photo of the world leader.

Under the newly unveiled budget, corporation tax is due to be reduced to 25 per cent by 2022 – a substantial drop from its current level of 33 per cent.

“These tax measures from the right wing will have a brutal and violent effect on worsening inequality,” former socialist economy minister Michel Sapin told Paris Match magazine on Tuesday.

The Macron government has sought to defend its plans by insisting France’s deficit, which is currently above the EU-mandated 3 per cent of GDP, will not be tackled by spending more from the public purse.

Finance minister Bruno Le Marie said the budget aims to accelerate France’s economic changes, and is fair because it meets “all the French citizens’ expectations without any exception”.

The budget, based on an estimated growth of 1.7 per cent next year (the same as this year), will see those in the financial sector paying lower taxes on their substantial salaries. This is part of France’s plans to capitalise on British companies moving overseas in the lead up to the UK’s departure from the EU.

The budget cuts will apply to government expenditure on the public health care system, housing benefits and transport. What’s more, it will freeze major infrastructure projects and slash nearly 1,600 civil service jobs.

Mr Macron was elected on the back of pledging to make France, which is currently one of just a few countries with a deficit higher than the EU-mandated rate, more competitive and boost jobs in an increasingly globalised world.

In spite of his international popularity and hefty parliamentary majority, domestic dilemmas have begun to rear their head in recent weeks. It has also become clear his goal of reducing France’s public deficit to 2.6 per cent of the country’s annual GDP may not be as straightforward as it initially appeared.

Mr Macron, who seized power on the promise of political regeneration, came under criticism from unions last week for passing labour reforms in the attempt to enhance growth and job hiring.

Unions argued the changes to the French Code du Travail reduced workers protections, made their position increasingly precarious and gave bosses greater power to fire and hire.

Over the weekend, thousands of protesters returned left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s call to show their opposition to the labour law reforms. Demonstrators met outside the Paris Opéra house at Bastille to march to the symbolic Place de la République, in order to voice their frustration at what Mr Mélenchon branded a “social coup d’état”.

“Our country has the record number of millionaires in Europe … Macron is great news for the rich,” Mr Mélenchon, leader of La France Insoumise (Unbowed France), told the crowd.