The French government will spend 100 billion euros on measures to combat high inflation between 2021 and 2023, French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a speech to the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.

“In October 2021, we took one of the most important decisions of the previous five-year mandate, putting a tariff shield on electricity and gas prices. The result: we have the lowest inflation rate in the euro zone,” Le Maire was quoted as saying by BFMTV.

He said that “the government will spend 100 billion euros to protect the French from price hikes in 2021-2023.” “Tariff shield” will be partially preserved in 2023 and in general will cost the budget, according to the estimate of the head of the Ministry of Finance, in 46 billion euros.

The Minister assured that the assistance provided in this way will not be financed by tax increases.

Consumer price growth in France in September slowed to 6.2% in annualized terms after rising by 6.6% a month earlier. Meanwhile, in the eurozone last month inflation accelerated to an all-time high of 10%, up from 9.1% in August.