Related: French finance minister wants to quit

    PARIS, Feb. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- French President Jacques Chirac nominated on Friday evening France Telecom chief executive, Thierry Breton, as the country's new finance minister, replacing Herve Gaymard, who resigned in a scandal over his luxury apartment.

    Gaymard quit on Friday over his handling of a scandal about his 14,000-euro (18,500 US dollars) a month luxury apartment paid for by government fund.

    A statement from Chirac's office said the president had formally approved the proposal made by Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin to put Breton at the head of the ministry.

    Breton, 50, has a reputation as a corporate turnaround specialist. Before joining France Telecom, he ran electronics company Thomson Multimedia and also served as an executive for French computer company Groupe Bull.

    Breton is widely admired for having steered then state-run France Telecom out of a debt crisis in 2002. Enditem