Political Showdown: France's 2025 Budget Crisis

France's 2025 budget faces a crisis as Finance Minister Antoine Armand seeks improvements. With the government under threat from the far right and left, Prime Minister Michel Barnier struggles to balance tax increases and spending cuts to save 60 billion euros. Pressure mounts from Marine Le Pen's National Rally.

French Finance Minister Antoine Armand expressed on Saturday that potential improvements could be made to the 2025 budget. However, he hesitated to yield in a heated dispute with the far right over additional concessions. On Friday, ratings agency Standard & Poor's granted Prime Minister Michel Barnier's weak minority government a rare respite, maintaining its rating despite France's spiraling budget deficit this year.

However, any relief may be short-lived. Both left-wing and far-right factions are threatening to topple Barnier's government over the budget, which aims to save 60 billion euros through tax hikes and spending cuts. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) has provided crucial support for Barnier but has demanded more changes by Monday to avoid a no-confidence vote.

Minister Armand confirmed that the government, led by Barnier, is open to listening and making necessary budget improvements. Despite already dropping plans to raise electricity taxes under RN pressure, the government faces persistent demands to shelve pension postponement plans to raise funds. RN lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy stated that the party would support a no-confidence motion if no amendments are made.

(With inputs from agencies.)