Baku, November 25, AZERTAC

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen issued a new threat on Monday to bring down France's coalition government in a no-confidence vote, after talks with Prime Minister Michel Barnier failed to satisfy her party's demands for budget concessions, Reuters reported.

Le Pen said nothing had changed following the discussions, and she was not optimistic a compromise on the belt-tightening 2025 budget bill could be reached.

"Nothing appears less certain," she told reporters.

Reflecting the growing risk that Barnier's government could fall, the premium investors demand to hold French bonds over German ones flirted with highs not seen in over 12 years.

The Senate started debating the bill on Monday following its rejection by lawmakers in the National Assembly after leftist lawmakers heavily revised it the lower house, adding tens of billions of euros in tax hikes.

Opposition parties are threatening to topple Barnier's government over the budget, and his fragile coalition relies on tacit support from Le Pen's National Rally party for its survival.

The government is seeking to squeeze 60 billion euros ($62.85 billion) in savings through tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit to 5% of economic output next year from over 6% this year.

National Rally has said it will support efforts to oust the government if its demands are not met. Le Pen said last week her party opposes increasing the tax burden on households, entrepreneurs or pensioners, and that so far these demands were not reflected in the budget bill.

Barnier is already struggling to keep the 2025 budget within the government's deficit targets after making pension concessions to conservative lawmakers and granting some ministries slightly bigger budgets after they complained.

Budget minister Laurent Saint-Martin acknowledged on Monday that the budget deficit might be slightly higher than the 5% of output originally foreseen.

Le Pen's own political future is also under threat, with prosecutors seeking a mandatory five-year ban from politics for her alleged role in an embezzlement scheme. Le Pen denies the allegations.

Some analysts have suggested her legal problems may accelerate her plans to bring down the government,

Barnier's struggles to secure approval for the budget have fuelled speculation he will invoke article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the text to be adopted without a vote. Such a move could trigger a no-confidence motion against the government.

"It is true that we find very little quality in this budget and very little time for the government to try to increase its qualities and reduce its defects," Le Pen said.

An official in Barnier's office described his talks with Le Pen as "constructive, courteous and frank".

Barnier was also due to meet other political leaders on Monday to seek a compromise on the budget bill. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the overall budget on Dec. 12.