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Speaker 1: The French finance minister, Antoine Armand says that the government

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Speaker 1: won't accept ultimatums from Marine Le penn over a new

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Speaker 1: budget law, even as the far right leader gave her

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Speaker 1: strongest indications yet that she will topple the administration as

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Speaker 1: soon as this week. Of course, her party in parliament

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Speaker 1: has the largest number of seats. Altoine Armand has been

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Speaker 1: speaking to Bloomberg's Caroline Cunnel in Paris.

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Speaker 2: Let us be very clear, Francis is on the right track.

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Speaker 2: France's economy has got very solid arguments and it needs

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Speaker 2: to be repeated. First of all, as you know, we

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Speaker 2: expect a growth of one point one persons in twenteen

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Speaker 2: thirty four. It will be above the Eurozone average. Second,

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Speaker 2: we have an inflation under the two percent, which is

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Speaker 2: now stable. And third of all needs to be said,

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Speaker 2: we have an unemployment which is at its lowest in

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Speaker 2: forty years in French, in France, so we have a

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Speaker 2: strong economy. We have solid arguments, and last but not least,

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Speaker 2: we have a clear perspective. Our government, Michelle Barnie's government

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Speaker 2: has a clear commitment to reduce the deficit. It will

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Speaker 2: be done. It needs to be done.

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Speaker 3: It needs to be done, but it's getting very difficult

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Speaker 3: this week because obviously your government faces a possible motion

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Speaker 3: of no confidence and could collapse as soon as this week.

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Speaker 3: Michelle Banie, the Prime Minister, has already made some concessions,

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Speaker 3: including on prices of electricity. What other concessions are you

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Speaker 3: ready to make? Are you ready to tell us today

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Speaker 3: in order for Marine nupen from the national reality to

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Speaker 3: abstain from a vote of no confidence.

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Speaker 2: You're right to remind that my Prime Minister, Michelle Bannie,

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Speaker 2: is a man of dialogue and compromise and this government

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Speaker 2: in the last week has clearly demonstrated its willingness to

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Speaker 2: ensure that Friends could have a budget through evolution in

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Speaker 2: the budget. And let me remind also that the parliamentary

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Speaker 2: debate is still ongoing and we have to wait until

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Speaker 2: the end of this debate. But as you said, Friends,

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Speaker 2: as a critical time, we have the arguments, we have

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Speaker 2: the fundamentals, we have a perspective to reduce public spending

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Speaker 2: and to cut boring, which is very important for Friends,

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Speaker 2: but for Europe as well. So let's say, let's remind

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Speaker 2: the political leaders in France that we have a common

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Speaker 2: responsibility and that this common responsibility includes voting, adopting passing

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Speaker 2: a budget.

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Speaker 3: Does that mean there's going to be more compromise, more

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Speaker 3: concessions before Monday night, which is the deadline that my

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Speaker 3: Inupien has given you.

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Speaker 2: As I said, the French government doesn't take multim atoms.

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Speaker 2: It's looking at the French parliamentary debate. It's respecting every

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Speaker 2: each and every parliamentary debate that leads to an evolution.

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Speaker 2: We will take into account what is changing, but we

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Speaker 2: won't be blackmailed. We are committed to reduce the deficit.

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Speaker 3: I understand you're willing to perhaps compromise, but mine open

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Speaker 3: has some speed. The seafly concessions she wants from the government,

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Speaker 3: including that all pensions be indexed on infation as soon

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Speaker 3: as January, and she also wants the government to give

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Speaker 3: up this plan to abandon some drug reinforcement on these

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Speaker 3: two specific topics. Is there any way to have more

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Speaker 3: concessions from the government.

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Speaker 2: Let's just not just focus on the for assemble mon

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Speaker 2: nacional because as you know, but it's key, it's key,

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Speaker 2: but it's not enough. And as you say, for a

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Speaker 2: vote of confidence to be adopted at the French parliament,

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Speaker 2: you would need to have the Socialist Party, the left

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Speaker 2: parties to vote with the far right parties. So it

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Speaker 2: would not only be the responsibility of Marine Lupezz party,

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Speaker 2: it would also be the responsibility of French socialists, French ecologists,

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Speaker 2: people who are willing to oppose to Marine Lupin to

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Speaker 2: vote together. It would be a very bad signal politically

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Speaker 2: an economically for these countries, for our country, and for

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Speaker 2: these parties who are saying and claiming that they could

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Speaker 2: say government parties.

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Speaker 3: Does that mean you're trying to negotiate with the Socialist Party,

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Speaker 3: not the National Valuy.

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Speaker 2: We are not focused on with whom we negotiate or not.

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Speaker 2: As I said, the government is a government of dialogue,

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Speaker 2: of respect of co construction. This budget, this budget has

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Speaker 2: been co constructed. It's not the result of just a

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Speaker 2: government project. It's evolving within the days and the weeks

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Speaker 2: of the parliamentary debate will still be open. But not

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Speaker 2: to blackmail.

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Speaker 3: You're not open to blackmail. But the thing that my

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Speaker 3: independent wants really is for the government to respect That's

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Speaker 3: what she says, to respect the electorate of the National Valuy.

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Speaker 3: Are you willing to say that the concessions you've already made,

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Speaker 3: for example, are thanks to the National valuy and that

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Speaker 3: you respect her electorate.

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Speaker 2: We respect every each and every MP, and we respect

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Speaker 2: each and every people in France, whatever they decided to

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Speaker 2: vote or not to vote, of course, but what's my

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Speaker 2: responsibility as a finance minister is to commit to the

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Speaker 2: five percent target that we decided to have at the

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Speaker 2: beginning of our mandates, not only for friends or for

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Speaker 2: the government, because it's now needed in order that Europe

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Speaker 2: still remain a country, a continent of prosperity. That's what

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Speaker 2: we aim at, and for that we need all political

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Speaker 2: leader to be responsible.

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Speaker 3: With these concessions that we've seen in the budget, they're

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Speaker 3: going to cost about ten billion euros.

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Speaker 2: Does that mean you can.

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Speaker 3: Actually keep this five percent deficit target or do you

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Speaker 3: believe perhaps it will be slightly higher, like five point

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Speaker 3: five or perhaps higher.

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Speaker 2: As I told you, our commitment to reduce the budget

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Speaker 2: deficit towards five percent in twenty twenty five and towards

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Speaker 2: three percent in twenty twenty nine is not an option.

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Speaker 2: It is something something we are very carefully looking at.

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Speaker 2: What does that mean you can actually it means that yes,

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Speaker 2: it means that at every time that we made adjustments

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Speaker 2: on our budget, we compensated it with saving with new measures.

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Speaker 2: It's clearly an important point to underline here. We all

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Speaker 2: committed to this five percent target in twenty twenty five

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Speaker 1: So that was Fances Finance Minister Antoine Armor speaking to

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Speaker 1: our own Caroline Connot in Paris