French government resigns, President orders new Cabinet to be formed

PARIS - France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls presented the resignation of his government to President Francois Hollande on Monday, Mr Hollande's office said in a statement, throwing France into fresh chaos.

Mr Hollande ordered Mr Valls to form a new Cabinet on Tuesday, "consistent with the direction he (Mr Hollande) has set for the country", the presidency said in a statement.

It did not give any reasons.

The move comes a day after leftist Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg called for new economic policies and questioned what he called Germany's "obsession" with budgetary rigour. Mr Montebourg spent his weekend bad-mouthing the country's economic direction and ally Germany in a much-criticised show of insubordination.