French Finance Minister Antoine Armand said he is prepared to make concessions on the 2025 budget bill to avoid opposition parties toppling the government in the coming weeks.

The future for French Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government looks bleak, with his struggles to push the 2025 budget through a polarised parliament increasingly likely to end in the toppling of his fragile coalition.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier said the country faces a “storm” in financial markets if an “unlikely but possible” alliance of lawmakers across the political spectrum rejects his government’s budget proposals and votes it out of power.

By Harry Robertson and Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) -French stocks and bonds fell sharply on Wednesday, driving the premium the government pays for long-term borrowing to its highest since the euro zone debt crisis of 2012,