Overview

• Lawmakers vote Monday on Prime Minister François Bayrou’s confidence motion, and reporting indicates he is likely to lose.
• The move follows a €43.8 billion austerity plan that would scrap two public holidays and has provoked broad opposition.
• France’s public debt stands around 114% of GDP, roughly €3.3 trillion, among the highest in the euro area.
• Market pressures have intensified, with new French bonds yielding more than Greece’s and near Italy’s, and Commerzbank doubts deficit cuts to 4.6% are feasible without a majority.
• ECB President Christine Lagarde says banks are better prepared than in the last crisis and does not expect an IMF request, while Goldman Sachs urges renewed structural reforms to stabilise debt and revive growth.