French PM to present belt-tightening 2027 budget, including frozen wages and new taxes

France is due to present its 2027 budget bill on Thursday after 0930 GMT, seeking to enact unpopular belt-tightening measures that can lower its deficit and appease increasingly twitchy bond investors ​ahead of ‌next year’s presidential election. As has become common in France, where the two ⁠previous prime ministers were toppled over their austerity plans, the legislation faces a tough ride in a deeply divided parliament, as political clans position themselves ‌for one of the country’s most consequential elections in modern times. The vote is ⁠due to take place on April 18-May 2, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen far ahead in the polls amid a growing backlash against President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist legacy. The budget ​squeeze would come from freezing public sector wages and all but the lowest ‌pensions as well as a series of targeted tax measures. Read moreFrench PM vows to cut public spending by €54 billion to reduce deficit Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu faces growing pressure from jittery bond investors, volatile pre-election politics and increasingly restless voters over how the €54 billion in budget savings he plans will ‌affect them. France’s benchmark 10-year borro...