The French government is all but certain to collapse later this week after far-right and left-wing parties submitted no-confidence motions on Monday against Prime Minister Michel Barnier, Reuters reported.
Investors immediately punished French assets as the latest developments plunged the euro zone's second-biggest economy deeper into political crisis, with serious doubt cast over whether the annual budget will be approved.
"The French have had enough," National Rally (RN) leader Marine Le Pen told reporters in parliament, saying Barnier, who only became prime minister in early September, had made things worse and needed to be pushed out. "We are proposing a motion of no confidence against the government," she said.
Barring a last-minute surprise, Barnier's fragile coalition will be the first French government to be forced out by a no-confidence vote since 1962.
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