PARIS (Reuters)

The fall of the government leaves France without a clear path toward reducing its budgetary deficit, according to credit rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) on Thursday.

"With less than four weeks until the end of the year, and even less time remaining until the Dec. 21 deadline to pass the budget, regardless of whether a new government is formed, S&P Global Ratings believes that the likelihood of an amended 2025 budget plan to be passed by year-end 2024 is low," it said.

S&P added in a note that under most scenarios, it would expect "considerably less budgetary consolidation than implied by the measures—including new taxes—proposed by the former government."