France’s new prime minister, Michel Barnier, said his intention was to “preserve France’s credibility” in the markets and promised he would “not raise taxes for all French people” adding that he was considering asking “the richest to join the effort solidarity”.

“Much of our debt is issued in the international markets, in the foreign markets. We must preserve the credibility of France,” said the French prime minister on the France 2 network, at a time when the country’s budget deficit is at 5% of GDP, well beyond the European limit of 3%.

“I don’t want to impose more taxes on all French people who already pay more taxes than all their European partners,” Michel Barnier told France 2 television. “Not for the poorest, not for the workers, not for the middle classes”. “But I don’t want to rule out that we have to get the richest to join the national effort,” he said, refusing to take a position on the return of the wealth tax, as demanded by the French left.

On the pension reform, which came into force a year ago and is being scrapped by the left and far right, he said he wanted to “take the time to make improvements”.

“We have a law that provides for an economic framework, and I believe that this economic framework must be preserved,” he said, adding, however, that “he will trust the social partners to improve the law, to reform it.”