President Francois Hollande and his government have been hit by another credit rating downgrade by Standard & Poor’s, the second in less than two years.
The country lost its AAA rating in January 2012. Shortly after that, President Sarkozy lost the general election.
The current government is trying to reduce the public deficit without further weakening France’s fragile economic recovery.
S&P attacked Hollande's economic policy, questioning the socialist government's ability to revive the economy. It said the government's reforms were not enough to generate sustained growth.
France is the eurozone's second largest economy.
A recent poll found the president’s popularity rating to be the lowest on record.
Voters are said to be confused over policy and tax U-turns and concerned about record levels of unemployment which is now 11%, hitting 3.29 million people. This month the authorities reversed decisions to impose a new tax on some savings products as well as a new corporate tax.
The government had already imposed €30bn in tax hikes this year. Predictably, consumers are spending little.
The government claims that it has made reforms in the labour market and on pensions, and also introduced policies to aid business competitiveness.
The president has promised to slash state spending without harming France's vast public sector and welfare state.
