Paris: President Nicolas Sarkozy appointed Francois Baroin, budget minister and government spokesman, as France's new finance minister on Wednesday, replacing Christine Lagarde.
Baroin will be replaced in his duties by Valerie Pecresse, a minister of higher education.
Baroin, 46, has worked closely with the Finance Ministry and had been seen as a natural successor to Lagarde, named late on Tuesday as the new chief of the International Monetary Fund.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, June 30, 2011, 08:59