France dealt a fresh blow as budget rejected ahead of strikes

French lawmakers rejected the government’s cost-cutting budget on Wednesday evening, as the country’s finances fuel widespread protests and worry bond markets.

Politicians in the National Assembly — the lower house of France’s parliament — voted unanimously against adopting 2027 budget plans drafted by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s government.

The government is trying to appease France’s creditors — traders in its bonds — by drastically reducing the country’s deficit and convincing lawmakers to approve sweeping spending cuts.

Lecornu said in September that he was targeting spending cuts worth 54 billion euros ($61.8 billion).

But no one party holds a majority in the National Assembly and lawmakers across the political spectrum sit in it, making agreements on fiscal policy difficult.

Since 2024’s snap election delivered a hung parliament, successive governments have used Article 49.3 of the constitution to force budgets through without a vote.

But threats of motions of no confidence have previously forced concessions. If a government is ousted, lawmakers must go back to the drawing board with the budget.

Another option is to pass the budget by ordinance, which has never been done in the French Fifth Republic, created in 1958. If a government is ousted after using this power, the budget it forces through remains in place.

Lecornu secured the 2026 budget via Article 49.3, after replacing ousted Prime Minister François Bayrou.

Concerns about the French budget deficit, which measured 5.1% of gross domestic product in 2025, have seen French government bonds — known as OATs — come under extreme pressure this year.

With borrowing costs rising, the country’s national debt — which amounted to 115.6% of GDP in 2025 — is also increasingly a source of concern.

Since late September, France has seen violent protests across the country, with demonstrations dissolving into riots and looting in late October. What began with student protests over education funding is thought to have caused more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in damages.

Nationwide strikes were due to take place on Thursday, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to join demonstrations voicing discontent with the rising cost of living.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has said 70,000 police and gendarmes — a military police force — will be deployed in efforts to quell any outbreaks of violence.

French media reported on Thursday that fires had been started at some demonstrations, with protesters spotted carrying placards that read “no to a France held…