Emergency loan to pay civil servants

THE FRENCH civil service has had to take out an emergency loan of almost €1bn to pay workers' salaries.

The Senate's finance commission approved the special €930m loan yesterday to pay several thousand staff at eight ministries.

The affected workers include teachers, defense staff and employees in the interior and budget ministries.

Finance commission president Jean Arthuis said it was the first time in memory that a decree had been passed to advance money to meet the cost of salaries.

He said the sum represented a very small percentage of the civil service's total wage bill, but that the problem nonetheless showed that the government did not have enough control over its spending.

The funding shortfall has arisen because fewer people have taken early retirement this year than the government had initially estimated, adding extra pressure to the accounts.

Education minister Luc Chatel said it was normal for "small budgetary adjustments" to occur towards the end of the year.