Jacques Chirac, France’s president, on Thursday put a big cut in corporate tax at the top of his new year’s economic wish-list as he underlined his determination to have an impact on the pre-election debate.

Mr Chirac said France’s corporate tax rate should drop from 33 per cent, well above the European average, to 20 per cent over five years. Pollsters said his address to business and trades unions leaders sounded like a campaign speech just four months before elections.