French Prime Minister Michel Barnier leaves following the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
PARIS: Requests to amend France’s 2025 budget as the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier battles to remain in power would cost almost US$10.6bil, the nation’s budget minister tells Le Parisien in an interview.
“The compromise on the taxation of electricity is not fully financed, and I don’t want this to be done by increasing the taxation of gas,” Laurent Saint-Martin said in an interview published last Saturday.
Marine Le Pen, whose party has the most seats in parliament, has stepped up threats in recent days to bring down the government in a no-confidence motion unless changes are made to the budget bill.
The National Rally (RN) set out further demands for changes even after Barnier dropped plans to raise taxes on electricity in a key concession to the far right.
The RN lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy told Les Echos newspaper last Saturday that the party would back a no-confidence motion if the government doesn’t increase pensions in line with inflation. The RN also wants Barnier to abandon a proposal to reduce drug reimbursements, Le Pen stressed in an interview with La Tribune yesterday. — Bloomberg
