French Prime Minister Michel Barnier expressed deep concern about the high risk of a financial crisis in the country. He stressed that the austerity measures taken by the Government, although difficult, are necessary to prevent catastrophic consequences. In order to achieve savings of 60 billion euros next year, the French government plans to reduce budget expenditures by 40 billion euros and introduce additional taxes of 20 billion euros. In particular, a temporary tax increase for large companies and wealthy citizens will be part of a plan to reduce the budget deficit. Barnier clarified that the tax increase will affect companies with annual revenues of over 1 billion euros (about 300 companies) and families with incomes of over 500 thousand euros per year. These measures, designed for one or two years, will attract about 20 billion euros to the budget. In addition, the Government plans to achieve significant savings by reducing the costs of various ministries, local authorities and the budget of the social security program.
