France has faith in the ability of the US to get out of this "difficult period" and it is too early to say if a G7 meeting will be brought forward, Finance Minister Francois Baroin told French iTele on Saturday.

Reacting to the downgrading of the US’ credit rating by Standard & Poor's, Baroin said: "France for its part... has complete faith in the solidity of the US economy.

"The unemployment numbers published yesterday showed a positive shift, better than expected, so it is going in the right direction," he added.

Baroin recalled that under President Bill Clinton, the US had defaulted on its debt payments for a few days.

"Therefore, one should not dramatise, one needs to remain cool-headed, one should look at the fundamentals." – Reuters