French economy minister threatens to resign to defy austerity policy

French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg, a staunch critic of austerity policy, threatened to resign on Monday and refused to join a new government.

French President Francois Hollande earlier in the day asked to form a new cabinet. The fresh list of ministers would be unveiled on Tuesday.

Dismissing the austerity policy as ineffective and unfair, Montebourg said that if his beliefs were contrary to the policy of the government and prime minister he would take his freedom.

The minister reaffirmed his criticism of Europe's austerity policies blamed by him as hitting "the working and middle classes."

An advocate of "made in France," he resisted Germany's "obsession" with austerity measures that had been introduced in France since the financial crisis, promoting alternative policies aimed at supporting household consumption.

"Today, I do not succeed in convincing but the results are here. France is stagnated. The unemployment continues its dangerous rise while it slowed in other European countries," he said.

In a cabinet reshuffle prompted by punitive votes in local election, Montebourg was named economy minister last April.

The 51-year-old official rang the alarming bell of worsening economic situation if alternative policy based on growth spur would not replace the government's austerity approach.