PARIS (Reuters) -French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday the state, EDF (EPA:EDF)'s majority shareholder, will always back the debt-laden power group, adding "all options are on the table", when asked if the government planned to nationalise EDF.
Le Maire made the comments in an interview with BFM television.
Earlier on Tuesday, energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told Europe 1 radio the government was considering the option of fully nationalising EDF, but added that nothing was decided yet.
EDF, in which the state owns over 80%, faces delays and budget over-runs on new nuclear plants in France and Britain, and corrosion problems in some of its ageing reactors.
The prospect of nationalising EDF was flagged by President Emmanuel Macron during his re-election campaign.