PARIS (Reuters) -French Finance Minister Eric Lombard suggested on Tuesday there was a risk the IMF would have to intervene in the economy if Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s minority government falls next month.
Bayrou’s minority government looked increasingly likely to be ousted after three main opposition parties said they would not back a confidence vote which Bayrou announced for September 8 over his plans for sweeping budget cuts.
“We are right in the thick of the battle,” Lombard told France Inter radio. He added he was “certainly not resigned” to Bayrou’s government losing its confidence vote.
Asked about comments by other politicians that a collapse of Bayrou’s government could result in the IMF having to intervene in France’s finances, Lombard replied: “This is a risk that is in front of us.”
“It is a risk that we would like to avoid, and one which we should avoid, but I cannot tell you that this risk does not exist,” he added.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-GuptaEditing by Bernadette Baum and Andrew Heavens)
