They’re putting out the bunting and the posters of President Sarkozy and his labour minister, Eric Woerth with the words: Dehors – ils ne valent rien! Out – they’re worthless! And we can expect maybe a million on the streets of French cities today protesting the government’s plan to increase the pension age from 60 to 62.
But the French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told me this morning that the government “won’t lose its nerve.”
“President Sarkozy was elected to reform the country. People wanted France to become more modern. This is the price we have to pay if we’re determined,” she said.
And this is just the beginning. Next week Minister Lagarde will present an austerity budget to parliament to bring down France’s deficit from 8 per cent to 6 per cent.
“It’s never happened in the history of France’s fifth Republic,” she said.
And she defended her assertion that France’s growth rate will reach two per cent. More than that – she bet me a bottle of Veuve Cliquot that it will!