France announces measures to curb food inflation

The French government on Monday announced new measures to curb food inflation, which has outpaced even rises in energy costs. Speaking at a news conference alongside some of the country’s major retailers, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the measures are the result of an agreement between distributors to reduce their margins which will cost them several hundred million euros.

“I believe in the freedom of trade and that it is up to the distributors to choose the products and from one region to another, it is not necessarily the same products that will be concerned,” Le Maire said. He added the agreement will be revisited in June.Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard said its own label products would be targeted for price freezes.