Éric Lombard says he hopes François Bayrou will survive vote and dismisses talk of looming debt crisis
The French finance minister, Éric Lombard, has said the government would have to compromise on plans to cut the budget deficit if the prime minister, François Bayrou, is toppled in a confidence vote next week.
Lombard told the Financial Times that fresh negotiations would require the government to make concessions to the left to reduce the size of the fiscal package if the government falls.
While opposition parties have said they will vote against Bayrou and bring down the government on Monday, Lombard said he still hoped Bayrou would survive. Lombard said he was confident that either Bayrou or a successor could still pass a budget before the year-end deadline.
He dismissed concerns of an impending debt crisis in France, saying: “We will take care of the deficits.”
