The plan to reduce the deficit will be less ambitious, Lombard has indicated

French Finance Minister Eric Lombard said the government would have to compromise on plans to reduce the budget deficit if Prime Minister François Bayrou was ousted in a vote of no confidence on September 8, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Lombard said in an interview with the newspaper, “It is inevitable” that in new negotiations the government would have to make concessions to the left to reduce the scale of the austerity package if the government fell.

Bayrou's government had sought to reduce the budget deficit next year from 5.4% to 4.6% of gross domestic product with an austerity program worth nearly €44 billion, which is opposed by opposition parties.

If Bayrou loses the vote next week, President Emmanuel Macron can immediately appoint a new prime minister, ask Bayrou to remain in office temporarily, or call early parliamentary elections. Before Bayrou announced the no-confidence vote, Macron had ruled out early elections a month ago.

(reuters, est)