France was thrown into fresh crisis on Monday after President Francois Hollande asked his prime minister to form a new government.

The president ordered Prime Minister Manuel Valls to form a new cabinet "consistent with the direction he has set for the country," the presidency said in a statement.

It did not give any reasons, but the move comes after Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg spent his weekend bad-mouthing the country's economic direction and ally Germany in a much-criticised show of insubordination.

(AFP)