French budget minister warns of IMF, EU oversight risk

PARIS (Reuters) -France must put its finances into order or face the risk of being placed under the supervision of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or of European institutions, Budget Minister Amelie de Montchalin said on Tuesday.

"Today, we need to seize the budgetary weapon again, get our house in order, and put it back in order, because if we don't, others will decide for us," Montchalin told RTL radio.

"There is a risk of supervision by international institutions, European institutions, our creditors," she added when asked if France faced a risk of supervision by the IMF.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou plans to unveil proposals in July to get public finances under control, hoping to push through a 40-billion-euro ($45.62 billion) budget squeeze in 2026.

France has a long history of flouting EU overspending rules and is currently running the biggest public sector deficit in the euro zone, at an estimated 5.4% of economic output this year.

($1 = 0.8768 euros)

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Andrew Heavens)