France's Socialist government promised on Monday to publish details of individual ministers' assets next week as it scrambled to stem a deepening scandal over a former budget minister's secret foreign bank account, reports Reuters.
Jerome Cahuzac quit his post in March and was placed under formal investigation for alleged tax fraud last week as he acknowledged he had been caught "in a spiral of lies" over his previous denials of holding a Swiss bank account.
The affair risks upsetting President Francois Hollande's economic reform effort, with even left-wing allies criticising his handling of the scandal. Hollande's opinion poll ratings are already at record lows for his failure to tackle unemployment.
While government opponents are calling for more heads to roll, one minister said a hasty reshuffle would be unwise and it was more likely to happen a few weeks from now.
"We find ourselves in a more complicated situation than before in dealing with a difficult economic situation. We will probably have to have a reshuffle, but not right away," the minister told reporters, asking not to be quoted by name.
The Cahuzac affair has dealt a grave blow to a 10-month-old government Hollande had promised would be beyond reproach.
Weekend surveys found 60 percent of the public want Hollande to reshuffle his team and three-quarters view most politicians and elected officials as corrupt.
"To begin with, wealth declarations of all the members of government will be made public by April 15," Jean-Marc Ayrault, Hollande's Prime Minister, said in a statement.
Ayrault said the move - which echoes requirements in the United States and elsewhere for public officials to make asset declarations - would be followed by a law in the coming months setting out moral standards in public life.
Read more of this report from Reuters.
See also: Beleaguered President Hollande under pressure to announce major 'clean up' of political life