Caretaker French PM Lecornu: Hopeful on budget, chance of snap election less likely

PARIS: Caretaker French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu struck a cautiously optimistic tone on Wednesday, saying a deal could potentially be reached on the country's budget by year-end, making the possibility of a snap election less likely.

Lecornu's remarks came as he was set to wrap up talks on Wednesday with various parties and report back to President Emmanuel Macron on whether he has found a way to end France's worst political crisis in decades.

"There is a willingness to have a budget for France before December 31 of this year," Lecornu told reporters after meetings on Tuesday with conservatives and centre-right parties, and before meeting the Socialist Party.

"And this willingness creates momentum and convergence, obviously, which reduces the prospects of dissolution (of parliament)," he said.

Lecornu added that he would meet Macron later on Wednesday as planned to discuss the results of his meetings and see if a deal was possible.

Macron has faced repeated opposition calls in recent days to call snap parliamentary elections, or else resign, to end the political crisis.

Lecornu, France's fifth prime minister in two years, tendered his and his government's resignation on Monday, hours after it was announced on Sunday, making it the shortest-lived administration in modern France.

That came after allies and foes alike had threatened to topple the new government, with Lecornu saying that would make it impossible for him to do his job.

Lecornu, a Macron loyalist, said he would now see in talks on Wednesday what concessions the Socialists and Greens would want to agree to back a budget deal.

Based on his talks so far, he said he hoped a deal could be reached on bringing France's budget deficit down to between 4.7% and 5%, from a target of 5.4% in 2025.