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PARIS (Reuters) – French Finance Minister Antoine Armand said on Saturday that the 2025 budget could still be improved, but stopped short of giving ground in a standoff with the far right over new concessions.
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s gave Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s fragile minority government a rare reprieve late on Friday leaving its rating steady although France’s budget deficit has spiralled out of control this year.
Any relief is likely to prove short-lived with both the left and far right threatening to bring Barnier’s government down over the budget, which seeks to squeeze 60 billion euros ($64 billion) in savings through tax hikes and spending cuts.
Marine Le Pen’s far right National Rally (RN), whose tacit support Barnier needs to survive a likely no confidence motion, has given him until Monday to accede to her demands to make further changes to the budget.
“This government, under his authority, is willing to listen, to have a dialog, to be respectful, to improve this budget,” Armand told journalists.
Asked about the showdown with Le Pen, he said: “The only ultimatum really facing the French is that our country gets a budget.”
On Thursday, Barnier already dropped plans to raise electricity taxes in the budget as the RN had demanded, but it is keeping pressure on the government to scrap plans to postpone an increase in some pensions to save money.
RN lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy told Les Echos newspaper on Saturday if the bill is not modified the party would back a no-confidence motion.
The test could come as soon Monday if his government has to use an aggressive constitutional measure to ram the social security financing legislation through parliament, which will trigger a no-confidence motion.
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(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Toby Chopra)