Premier Says France Bankrupt
September 23rd, 2007Remember, a few days ago, when I asked, “Does anyone understand the French connection here?” as Henry Paulson, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, jetted around from London to Paris during the Northern Rock crisis…
Uh…
Via: Forbes:
France is bankrupt because of chronic budget deficits, the country’s prime minister said Friday, pledging to balance the budget before the end of his term.
“The truth is that I am the head of a state that is in a state of bankruptcy due to its financing plan,” Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in the Corsican city of Calvi. Fillon answers to President Nicolas Sarkozy, but heads the French government.
“I am the head of a state that has been in chronic deficit for 15 years,” the conservative Fillon remarked, adding, “I am the head of a state that hasn’t voted a balanced budget in 25 years.”
“This cannot last,” he concluded, saying he is obliged to bring the budget into balance before 2012, when France next holds presidential elections.
