French govt seeking to double list of groceries subject to price cuts-source

investing.com:

By Leigh Thomas and Silvia Aloisi

PARIS (Reuters) -The French government is looking to secure a commitment from supermarkets and consumer goods groups to help fight inflation by doubling the number of products subject to price cuts this year from around 1,000 now, a finance ministry source said on Wednesday.

The source said the government also favoured advancing annual negotiations on prices between retailers and their suppliers, currently set for a window between December and March each year.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire met top retailers on Wednesday and was due to hold talks with their industrial suppliers on Thursday to discuss how to accelerate price cuts.

After the meeting, retail industry lobby group Federation du Commerce et de la Distribution (FDC) said that only 25 out of 75 big consumer good groups had so far agreed to reduce prices, and just on a limited number of products. The group blames global multinationals for the high cost of living.

Earlier on Wednesday, the boss of grocery chain Les Mousquetaires said he did not expect supermarket prices to fall significantly before March next year and echoed a warning by a rival group that French consumers were spending less due to stubbornly high prices.

Thierry Cotillard, whose group has more than 3,000 stores in France, told RTL radio consumers had cut their shopping at supermarkets by around 5% in terms of volume, and were buying fewer fresh products like fish and meat.

«It's a real concern as the French are consuming less… It's not good for the economy, it's not good for business,» he said.

On Tuesday, the CEO of French retailer Carrefour (EPA:CARR) Alexandre Bompard also warned that high prices had forced consumers to make massive cuts to spending