Prime minister: French finances 'critical'

PARIS, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Monday drastic action was needed to shore up his country's "critical" public finances.

"We had a 1.15 billion (euros) ($1.62 billion) deficit at the end of 2006," Fillon told Luxembourg's RTL Radio. "The situation is critical."

He said France hadn't balanced its budget "since 1974."

On Friday Fillon said France was "in a state of bankruptcy due to its financing plan" and said France hadn't voted a balanced budget "in 25 years," London's Telegraph reported.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday he would try to lower the budget deficit to 2.4 percent this year and erase France's annual deficit by 2010.