Emmanuel Macron appoints François Bayrou as the new Prime Minister of France

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday appointed François Bayrou as the new prime minister as political uncertainty is expected to continue to pressure the country's administration following the ouster of Michel Barnier's government last week.

The centrist Bayrou represents the country's fourth prime minister this year after Barnier to resign on December 5 in the wake of a historic vote of no confidence, which saw an unexpected alliance between opposition parties of the left and far right.

The 73-year-old veteran politician has led the center-right Democratic Movement in France since he founded it in 2007 and is a long-time ally of Macron. He is now expected to form a new government in the coming weeks.

Macron was expected to announce a successor a day after Barnier's departure, but in a sign of the country's political stalemate, that decision was postponed until this week. The president also missed a 48-hour deadline he set for himself at a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday.

The delay reflects the broader turmoil that has rocked French politics in recent months, with inconclusive legislative elections this summer and broader divisions over France's huge deficit.

Macron called for early elections in June and July In an attempt to strengthen the power base of his centrist coalition in the National Assemblybut instead emerged with a significantly reduced power base.

Last week's vote of no confidence – held after weeks of debate over 2025 budget plans to raise taxes and cut public spending – saw the left-wing coalition of the New Popular Front and Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party back a snap election. Movement against Barnier's government. This is the first time that the French government has been overthrown since 1962.

Barnier served only three months in office, succeeding Gabriel Attal, who took office in January The youngest Prime Minister of France In modern history – and Elizabeth Bourne before him.

The next prime minister will now face many of the same pressures as his predecessor, with both left and right expected to harass the new government over their own agendas for the 2025 budget.

Le Pen, in A mail On X, he urged Bayrou to listen to the opposition in order to build a “reasonable and thoughtful budget,” according to a Google translation. The leader of the National Rally Party, Jordan Bardella, said that the “red lines” in the party's policy still exist, in statements reported by Reuters.

said Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel Social media That Bairou's appointment was a “bad idea” and questioned whether the next prime minister would continue to push policy “that has failed and been punished”, according to a Google translation.

For its part, the National Rally Party wants to obtain concessions to increase pensions, cancel planned cuts in drug compensation, and reduce contributions to the European Union budget. At the same time, the New Popular Front wants to raise public spending and increase taxes on the super-profits and the wealthy.

For now, analysts believe it is likely that France's main political blocs will agree to an interim budget, which simply extends the 2024 budget into next year. This would prevent any government “shutdown” in the new year as France can no longer meet its financial obligations.

However, such a move would delay the urgent need to address France's fiscal problems, where the budget deficit is already expected to reach 6.1% of GDP in 2024, and is expected to rise further if measures are not taken to rein in… Spending.

Investors are currently looking cautiously towards France Yield on 10-year French government bonds It rose 5 basis points to about 3.01% after the announcement, slightly higher than earlier in the session. The French CAC 40At the same time, it fell slightly to trade 0.12% higher.

— CNBC's Holly Eliatt contributed to this report.