Survey: Confidence in French President hits all-time low

PARIS: The French people's confidence in President Emmanuel Macron has reached an all-time low, according to a new survey.
Only 25 per cent of respondents to a poll conducted by the research company Toluna-Harris Interactive and LCI news said they trusted the 48-year-old leader to pursue good policies for the country.
According to the data, released on Friday, this is the lowest level since Macron took office in 2017. The president already reached this level once in October. A total of 1,099 people took part in the online survey on December 22 and 23.
The so-called political confidence barometer is surveyed every month. Compared to November, Macron's popularity fell by four percentage points.
His ratings have hovered below 30 per cent for months amid growing pressure, mainly stemming from national challenges. Despite lengthy wrangling, the highly debt-burdened country still does not have a proper budget for the coming year. This week,parliament passed a stopgap solution.
In September, the government collapsed due to protests over austerity measures proposed by then prime minister François Bayrou. Under his successor Sebastién Lecornu, a further collapse was only narrowly averted. - dpa