PARIS (MNI) – France’s Budget Minister Francois Baroin will be
named as the new finance minister, replacing Christine Lagarde who was
appointed on Tuesday as Managing Director of the International Monetary
Fund, according to French press reports.
France’s daily Le Figaro reported that after a hard-fought battle,
President Nicolas Sarkozy reversed an initial decision to name
Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire to the post and instead went with
Baroin. Le Figaro said Baroin had expressed extreme displeasure when he
thought that Le Maire would be named, and that he had threatened to
resign.
French news television station LCI also reported Baroin will become
the next finance minister, citing news agency reports. However, it
cautioned that there was no official confirmation.
Adding an element of confusion, Le Monde reported this morning that
Le Maire would be Sarkozy’s choice for the finance post. However, it
seemed likely that the Le Monde report was based on information obtained
Tuesday night, where as Le Figaro purported to have more recent
information from government insiders.
A government announcement on the choice is expected sometime later
today, possibly shortly.
If Baroin is confirmed as the choice for the finance ministry, it
should provide a sense of continuity, since at the Budget Ministry he
has has been a strong proponent of the fiscal consolidation path that
France has chosen.
–Paris newsroom, +331-42-71-55-40; bwolfson@marketnews.com
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