PARIS — The French government survived two no-confidence votes over its fiscal plans Friday, moving one step closer to finally adopting a proper state budget for the year.

The motion of no confidence put forward by the far-left France Unbowed was backed by 269 MPs — 19 votes short of passing— while the far-right National Rally’s version netted support from a mere 142 lawmakers.

The two parties attempted to bring down Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government following his decision to use a constitutional backdoor to pass France’s 2026 budget after lawmakers failed to approve one before the end of 2025.

That maneuver, Article 49.3 of the constitution, allows the government to ram through legislation without a vote but in turn gives opposition lawmakers the opportunity to respond by putting forward a no-confidence vote.

Lecornu triggered that measure on Tuesday to pass the part of the budget that concerns raising revenue. He is expected to use it again Friday to pass the final part of the budget concerning government expenditures.

Lecornu had been expected to survive, as the political extremes do not have enough lawmakers among themselves to bring down the government. The more centrist Socialists, who have played a kingmaker role during the prime minister’s tenure, did not try to topple the government after Lecornu offered them several last-minute budgetary concessions.

France is under pressure from financial markets and international institutions to cut a budget deficit that came in at 5.4 percent of GDP last year and debt that is projected to go up to 118.2 percent of GDP in 2026, according to the government’s forecast.

The country’s hung parliament was, for a second year in a row, unable to craft a state budget on its own despite Lecornu’s pledge to let lawmakers search for a consensus. They did, however, agree to a deal on funding the country’s social security system.

Without proper plans in place, lawmakers were forced to roll over the 2025 budget into the new year until proper fiscal plans could be finalized. Lecornu said last week he would use Article 49.3 to enact a budget despite having ruled that option out in October.

The 2026 budget being enacted is projected to carry a deficit of 5 percent of GDP and remains under excessive deficit procedure from the European Commission. Paris has pledged to bring the figure below 3 percent of GDP, as required by EU rules, by 2029.