President Emmanuel Macron, who has promised to stay on until 2027, may soon face the complex task of appointing a prime minister for the third time in one year<\/a> after his hasty dissolution of parliament in June 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n Financial markets were rattled after Bayrou\u2019s announcement on August 26. The interest payments on 10-year bonds rose to 3.5 percent on Monday, higher than debt-riddled Greece\u2019s 3.36 percent.<\/p>\n What are Bayrou\u2019s budget proposals?<\/p>\n At first blush, France\u2019s economy appears to be doing relatively well. The government\u2019s debt pile is lower, relative to the size of its economy, than in Italy. And the cost of financing the annual interest on its debt is well below that of the United Kingdom\u2019s.<\/p>\n But Paris is struggling to keep a lid on its spending. Last year, France\u2019s budget deficit reached 5.8 percent (168.6 billion euros, or $196bn) of its gross domestic product (GDP). The official EU target is no more than 3 percent. Investors worry that France\u2019s persistent deficits will cause ever higher debt ratios and undermine its credit score.<\/p>\n For his part, Bayrou is trying to lower the government\u2019s borrowing to 4.6 percent of GDP in 2026 and to 2.8 percent by 2029. In turn, that would lower the overall debt-to-GDP ratio to 117.2 percent in 2029, compared with 125.3 percent if no changes are made.<\/p>\n His plan includes 43.8 billion euros ($51bn) in savings for 2026, 80 percent of which would come from spending cuts, such as reductions in public sector hiring, suspending pension indexation to inflation and scrapping two public holidays.<\/p>\n Greater taxes on high earners are among other proposals that have been considered.<\/p>\n The prime minister\u2019s proposals come on top of Macron\u2019s unpopular 2023 move to raise France\u2019s retirement age<\/a> by two years to 64. At the time, the president argued that excessive pension payments were a drag on the country\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n Before the confidence vote, the French leadership has again tried to shape the debate around the country\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issue, the question, is not the fate of the prime minister or\u2026 even the fate of the government. The question is the fate of France,\u201d Bayrou said.<\/p>\n On August 26, Finance Minister Eric Lombard warned that unless France gets its debt under control, interventions from the International Monetary Fund, the global lender of last resort \u2013 typically for emerging market countries \u2013 \u201cis a risk that is in front of us\u201d.<\/p>\n How have political parties responded to Bayrou\u2019s gamble?<\/p>\n Because Bayrou\u2019s centrist and allied conservative coalition does not hold an outright majority in France\u2019s parliament, the prime minister will have to rely on the support \u2013 or at least abstention \u2013 of adversaries on the left and the right to pass his budget.<\/p>\n But opposition parties, which hold more than 320 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, have already said they would vote against Bayrou. If they stick to that, it would be impossible for the current government to survive.<\/p>\n Hard-left lawmakers from Unbowed said they want to \u201cmake the government fall\u201d, and the Socialists have promised to reject an \u201cunfair budget\u201d. The national secretary of the Greens, Marine Tondelier, described Bayrou\u2019s confidence vote as \u201ca resignation de facto\u201d.<\/p>\n Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said it would vote against the government. Bayrou had \u201cchosen to go\u201d, Faure said.<\/p>\n![\"Political](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/INTERACTIVE-Political-groups-in-the-National-Assembly0D-september-2-2025-1756824944.png\")
(Al Jazeera)<\/p>\n