France at turning point amid budget uncertainty, finance minister says

PARIS (Reuters) – France is at a turning point due to uncertainty over the country’s budget and the future of the government, Finance Minister Antoine Armand said on Tuesday.

Expectations that Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government will collapse due to opposition to his budget have hit the stock and bond markets of France, the euro zone’s second-biggest economy which is under pressure due to its rising deficit.

“The country is at a turning point,” Armand told France 2 TV, adding politicians had a responsibility “not to plunge the country into uncertainty”.

Barnier is due to address television news programmes on Tuesday evening, starting around 1900 GMT, and is expected to face no-confidence motions on Wednesday.

Barring a last-minute surprise, Barnier’s fragile coalition will be the first French government to be forced out by a no-confidence vote since 1962.

Barnier’s budget, which seeks to rein in France’s spiralling public deficit through 60 billion euros ($62.9 billion) in tax hikes and spending cuts, has been opposed by politicians on both the far left and far right.

($1 = 0.9536 euros)