France has asked the European Commission to extend beyond a 20 September deadline for submitting a plan to reduce its public deficit to align with Paris' 2025 draft budget, reports RFI.
France could see its budget deficit spiral unexpectedly higher this year and next if extra savings are not found, the Finance Ministry said in a letter to lawmakers earlier this month.
The deteriorating state of public finances has put Paris into EU disciplinary proceedings and left incoming prime minister Michel Barnier facing tough questions as he looks to form a new government and prepare a budget by 1 October with the threat of a parliamentary vote of no-confidence hanging over him.
"France has asked for such an extension," the Finance Ministry was quoted as saying in the weekly La Tribune Dimanche economics newspaper, without specifying how long it had asked for.
This was to "ensure the coherence of the plan and the 2025 draft budget," the ministry said.