PARIS: Prime minister Francois Fillon said on Monday that the salaries of French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his ministers would be frozen as part of austerity measures, calling on business leaders to do the same.

"The salaries of members of the government and the president will be frozen until a return to a strict balancing of public finances," Fillon said as he announced measures to eliminate France's deficit by 2016.

"I call on political leaders and heads of big companies , particularly businesses in the CAC 40, to do exactly the same thing," Fillon said, referring to the Paris stock exchange's blue chip share index.

"I call on everyone to show great responsibility," Fillon said, calling pay rises for some bosses "frankly indecent".

Following his election, Sarkozy in 2007 raised his own salary by 170% from around $9641 a month to around &26169 prompting a storm of criticism.