PARIS (Reuters) – Christine Lagarde has made her mark as International Monetary Fund chief by taking a firm yet pragmatic stance in the austerity-versus-growth debate raging as Europe struggles to pull itself out of a long crisis.

Lagarde, who was quizzed by a Paris magistrate on Thursday over a 2007 arbitration payment she made as French finance minister to settle a spat between the state and a businessman, was appointed IMF head in June 2011.

PARIS (Reuters) – When she embarked on a university degree at 18, Caroline never imagined she would still be living like a student a decade later, unable to land a permanent job and stuck in a cramped spare room in her father’s flat.

An engaging 27-year-old with a literature degree and a masters in communications, she is one of hundreds of thousands of young French graduates stuck in a cycle of short-term job contracts and bouts of unemployment that is stunting their career potential.

PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) – France unveiled draft
legislation on Wednesday aimed at making hundreds of
parliamentarians and other elected officials disclose their
wealth and business activities to a new watchdog.

A response to a scandal over a former minister’s secret bank
account, the bill would create one of the most transparent
systems in the West, exposing lawmakers’ assets and barring them
from non-governmental work that means a conflict of interest.

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Socialist government contains eight millionaires, a list of ministers’ personal assets showed on Monday, dealing a blow to the image built by President Francois Hollande of a team enduring frugal salaries and no-frills travel.

The inventory, part of a scramble by Hollande to quieten an outcry over an ex-budget minister’s undeclared Swiss bank account, exposed Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as having a 6.5 million euro ($8.50 million) fortune, excluding his art collection.

PARIS, April 12 (Reuters) – An inventory of French
ministers’ assets could set off a storm when it goes public on
Monday, exposing a handful of millionaires in the Socialist
government as the nation endures spending cuts and rampant
unemployment.

For the first time in France, President Francois Hollande is
publishing a list of bank deposits and property held by all 38
ministers as he scrambles to stem public fury over his ex-budget
minister’s disclosure he lied about a secret Swiss bank account.

PARIS, April 10 (Reuters) – French President Francois
Hollande promised on Wednesday to stick with deficit-reduction
plans, despite stirrings of a revolt within his Socialist
government over cuts that critics say bow too much to German
demands for austerity.

Hollande is seeking more than 60 billion euros of savings to
balance the budget by the end of his mandate in 2017, arguing
that knocking public finances into shape must go hand in hand
with efforts to restore jobs and economic growth.

PARIS, April 8 (Reuters) – France’s Socialist government
promised on Monday to publish details of individual ministers’
assets next week as it scrambled to stem a deepening scandal
over a former budget minister’s secret foreign bank account.

Jerome Cahuzac quit his post in March and was placed under
formal investigation for alleged tax fraud last week as he
acknowledged he had been caught “in a spiral of lies” over his
previous denials of holding a Swiss bank account.

PARIS (Reuters) – The French government on Wednesday fought to limit the damage from a former minister’s admission that he had lied over the existence of a foreign bank account, as critics suggested it had been either naive or complicit.

President Francois Hollande, already battling to convince the world he has France’s finances under control, said he had never protected Jerome Cahuzac, his budget minister until mid-March, and personally ordered him to quit the moment an inquiry was opened into the affair.

PARIS, April 3 (Reuters) – The French government on
Wednesday fought to limit the damage from a former minister’s
admission that he had lied over the existence of a foreign bank
account, as critics suggested it had been either naive or
complicit.

President Francois Hollande, already battling to convince
the world he has France’s finances under control, said he had
never protected Jerome Cahuzac, his budget minister until
mid-March, and personally ordered him to quit the moment an
inquiry was opened into the affair.

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Socialist president may save face with some supporters by resurrecting a 75 percent super-tax on million-euro salaries, but his plan to shift the levy from individuals to companies only alienated business leaders on Friday and impressed few even on the left.

Francois Hollande announced a re-draft late on Thursday of his plan for a 75 percent tax on income over 1 million euros – an election pledge that was crushed by the Constitutional Council – so that it hits companies rather than individuals.