France has earmarked 20 billion euros for corporate bailouts - finance minister

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government has set aside 20 billion euros ($21.7 billion) to help big companies that need their capital base shored up by the state, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday.

"We've decided to put credit on the fund, to put 20 billion euros on the special fund to support to the capital of companies that need it, whether public or private," Le Maire said on Europe 1 radio.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas. Editing by Jane Merriman)