French Premier Warns of Debt Crisis as Government Teeters (2)

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou emphasized the need to fix France’s fiscal problems ahead of a confidence vote later Monday that will likely lead to his government’s collapse.

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“Everything, positive and negative, adds up to one question: The question of spending and debt,” Bayrou said in the National Assembly. He added that France is “drowning in a tide of debt,” saying that the country is facing a “moment of truth.”

Francois Bayrou speaks at the National Assembly ahead of a government confidence vote in Paris.

Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg

Bayrou’s address in the National Assembly was followed by speeches from the leaders of political parties. The confidence vote ...