France’s challenges mount over ballooning debt

France’s challenges mounted as concerns over its ballooning debt weighed on economic activity and reverberated across Europe. Economists argue planned government spending cuts do not go far enough and political divisions — far-left and far-right parties instead want the European Central Bank to buy up or even cancel French debt — suggest Paris’ proposed budget faces an uphill battle to pass. Political uncertainty is hampering business investment , France’s biggest business group has warned, while…