Fresh recession risk in France threatens political crisis France risks being left behind as the eurozone slowly recovers and Spain lures away investment after pushing through reforms and cutting wage costs. Renault has switched output to plants in Spain in recent months after winning concessions from workers. Patrick Artus said France may start to come under market pressure if it is the only major country in the eurozone that fails to recover in 2014. "It is doubtful that investors will continued to lend to France at interest rates of just 45 basis points above German rates," he said. Mario Draghi, the head of the European Central Bank, told Le Journal du Dimanche that France must stick to reforms and "return to fiscal stability" in order to restore confidence. The comments are likely to infuriate critics in France who say the chief reason for the relapse is a fiscal squeeze of 1.8pc of GDP this year to meet EU deficit demands. They accuse the ECB itself of doing too little to keep money supply growth on an even keel and to head off a slide towards deflation. In an unusually blunt comment, Mr Draghi also said the French government should stop relying on tax increases to lower the deficit. The French state has grown to 55pc of GDP, crowding out the private sector. The Bank of France is sticking to its view that growth will rebound to 0.4pc this quarter after growth contracted in the third quarter. Such a stark divergence in forecasts is rare. The split in economic performance between France and Germany cannot continue for much longer without causing severe political strains. Goldman Sachs says France may have to endure a 40pc fall in relative living standards against Germany to rectify the imbalances. Mr Hollande is already faces the lowest popularity rating of any French president in modern history. It is unclear how long his Socialist government will tolerate years of wage deflation and high unemployment as its popular base defects to radical parties such as the Front National. Jacques Attali, former head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and a leading French socialist, has caused a storm in recent weeks by comparing the current political situation in France with Germany in the final years of Weimar democracy in the early 1930s under the Gold Standard.