"France today is a safe investment, it can repay its debt and the news concerning our deficit is better than expected," Pecresse, who is also budget minister, said.

She did not make any reference to France's credit rating, following reports that ratings agency Standard & Poor's has downgraded France and Austria's triple-A credit ratings

Finance Minister Francois Baroin arrived at President Nicolas Sarkozy's office shortly after the reports. Sarkozy's office declined any comment.

(Reporting By Nicholas Vinocur and Yann Le Guernigou; Editing by Catherine Bremer)