---
title: "French PM hopes to have budget ready by mid-February"
description: "\"If we do not succeed this time around, it will be the last stop before we reach the cliff,\" said new French Prime Minister, Francois Bayrou."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "International Finance"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-12-20-french-pm-hopes-to-have-budget-ready-by-mid-february/"
published: "2024-12-20T00:05:13"
updated: "2024-12-20T00:05:15"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 189
---

# French PM hopes to have budget ready by mid-February

> "If we do not succeed this time around, it will be the last stop before we reach the cliff," said new French Prime Minister, Francois Bayrou.

By Reuters · Published 20 December 2024, 02:05 SAST · Updated 20 December 2024, 02:05 SAST

## Key points
- Francois Bayrou, France's new prime minister, is racing against time to unveil a budget by mid-February, all while keeping a constitutional safety net handy, lest he tumble over the fiscal cliff like his predecessor Barnier.
- New French PM Francois Bayrou aims to present a budget by mid-February, seeking to avoid pitfalls faced by his predecessor.
- He may invoke the 49.3 parliamentary clause to bypass opposition if necessary, but only as a last resort.
- Bayrou emphasizes the urgent need to reduce France's deficit, currently exceeding EU limits.
- He plans to finalize his government by Christmas, hoping to retain acting Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.

## Content

France's [new prime minister, Francois Bayrou](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS8N3JH05M&linkedFromStory=true), said on Thursday he hoped to have a budget ready by mid-February, as he battles to avoid the fate of his predecessor Michel Barnier, whose government collapsed amid opposition to his budget measures.

"I hope to have a budget by mid-February," Bayrou said on France 2 television.

Bayrou said he would keep open the option of using the 49.3 parliamentary clause - namely special constitutional powers - to get the budget through parliament if it looked as if opposition parties were trying to block it.

"I will not use the 49.3, unless the budget is being completely blocked," he said.

Bayrou, similar to Barnier, has stated the importance of [cutting France's deficit](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS8N3HG032&linkedFromStory=true), which is currently above limits set by the European Union.

Bayrou also said he hoped to have his new government ready by Christmas, and said he wanted acting Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to remain in government.

"If we do not succeed this time around, it will be the last stop before we reach the cliff," said Bayrou.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Diane Craft and Leslie Adler)