IMF says French downgrade was wrong The agency warned that "the French government's approach to budgetary and structural reforms to taxation, as well as to product, services and labour markets, is unlikely to substantially raise France's medium-term growth prospects." But Mr Blanchard played down the suggestion that France would struggle to deal with its borrowing. "Even if France hasn't fully recovered yet, I don't see any substantial risk - or even an increased risk - that it won't be able to service its debt," he said. "In this sense I do think that the downgrade wasn't justified," he said. France has struggled to get its deficit under control under Hollande, with its economy stalling even as the eurozone as a whole has returned to growth. The country's economy shrank by 0.1pc in the third quarter of the year. Mr Blanchard repeatedly called for George Osborne to curb his austerity plans at the start of the year, claiming the Chancellor was "playing with fire." Despite the UK economy returning to growth in recent months, he has been reluctant to support spending cuts.