French prime minister Michel Barnier on Thursday announced significant concessions in an attempt to end a standoff with the opposition over the budget that has caused unrest in financial markets and threatens the fall of his minority government.
Passes UNN with reference to IATEM.
We are facing an extremely serious situation for the country," and in this context, "we are clearly ready to make concessions to avoid this storm."
The French government confirmed that it is ready to make concessions to opposition groups in the budgets considered in parliament in order to avoid a vote of no confidence. The latter circumstance is a threat in the coming days - it is something that can lead to the dissolution of the government and, also, threatens a financial crisis.
The far-right led by Marine Le Pen, who as a parliamentary bloc holds the key to the government's survival, welcomed the move, but said more needed to be done.
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Months of political tension since Barnier was appointed prime minister in September at the head of a minority government appointed by President Emmanuel Macron after early parliamentary elections have culminated in budget discussions.
France's public deficit, which has already risen sharply last year, is expected to grow even further in 2024 to 6.1% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to calculations by the executive, which in its draft budget aims to reduce it to 5% in 2025.
Economy Minister Antoine Armand insisted that some changes had already been made to the original draft budget during the parliamentary procedure. We are talking, in particular, about the revaluation of pensions to the level of inflation as of January 1.