French minister confirms A400M financing deadline

PARIS Dec 16 (Reuters) - French Defence Minister Herve Morin confirmed a possible deadline of end-January to reach a financing deal for Airbus' (EAD.PA) A400M military transporter, which has faced cost problems.

"What remains are the financial negotiations, which are naturally difficult," Morin told French paper La Tribune in an interview published on Thursday.

"We are going to give ourselves until the end of January and the moratorium will be extended till then," he added.

Reuters had reported last Friday that ministers meeting in Spain alongside the aircraft's first flight had agreed to extend a standstill period for negotiations to the end of January [ID:nGEE5B92LV].

Morin also said he was confident over the chances of signing contracts for Dassault Aviation's (AVMD.PA) Rafale fighter jet and that he was still eyeing a possible asset swap between French companies Safran (SAF.PA) and Thales (TCFP.PA). (Reporting by Matthias Blamont and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Gary Hill)