1.   Chirac moved to quell speculation the government was considering devaluing the franc and forcing the central bank to cut rates to boost a flagging economy.

2.   He and his leading supporters also strongly hinted they would devalue the franc to make French exports more competitive.

3.   If the French economy takes a nose dive, the government can pump in francs, devalue the franc or cut taxes and raise spending.

4.   The measures taken under him included devaluing the franc and imposing a freeze on prices.

5.   Attempting to calm market fears that Chirac may seek to devalue the franc, French minister Alain Madelin even suggested the value of French currency should be increased.

6.   He has promised to cut inflation and unemployment, but does not intend to devalue the franc.

7.   But he also warned against those who said the French franc should be devalued against the German mark, warning that this could lead to a genuine European crisis.

8.   But pressure from the markets soon forced it to adopt economic austerity, devaluing the franc three times.

9.   Last week, fears that the new French administration might change policy and devalue the franc had caused the franc to fall.

10.   Prices and wages were frozen for four months, indexing of wages on inflation was dropped and the franc was devalued for a second time.