France's lower house on Friday rejected a wealth tax proposed by the left, which has threatened to bring down the government if a levy on the super-rich is not in the budget.

France is under pressure to pass a spending bill by the end of the year to rein in its deficit and soaring debt, but efforts have been hampered by a political deadlock.

A left-wing bloc made up of the Socialist, Communist, Green parties and the hard-left France Unbowed had proposed a minimum two-percent tax on wealth over 100 million euros ($115 million), dubbed the "Zucman tax" after the French economist who devised it.

But lawmakers in the National Assembly rejected the measure on Friday evening, 228 voting against and 172 in favour.

After the vote, Socialist leader Olivier Faure said there was "no possibility"

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