Bruno Le Maire, the finance minister of France, is set to meet insurers and retailers today for assessing the economic impact of protests against rise in fuel cost. Protesters have blocked the highways since 17 November all across France.
The protesters in fluorescent jackets burned the barricades and even deployed convoys for slowing down trucks. Access to factories and shopping centers was also denied. As per the French retailers, if the protests continue for long, then they will also affect the shopping season of Christmas, threatening jobs.
President Emmanuel Macron has no plans of backing down on taxes that were introduced on petrol and diesel previous year with the motive of encouraging people to use cleaner forms of transport.
Le Maire will bring the representatives of the Finance and Economy Ministry together for assessing the impact of the economic situation on sales and the consequences that will follow. The need of the hour is to urgently stop the violence and bring back the nation’s unity.
Source: Reuters, One News Page