Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered his Prime Minister to hold talks with other political leaders and demonstrators as he seeks a way out of fuel tax protests that are sweeping the country.

Riot police were overwhelmed on Saturday as "yellow vest" protesters ran amok in Paris' wealthiest neighbourhoods, torching dozens of cars, looting boutiques and smashing homes and cafes in the worst disturbances in the capital since 1968.

The unrest began as a backlash against fuel tax hikes but has spread to become a general protest against the cost of living. It poses the most formidable challenge yet to Macron's presidency, with the escalating violence and the depth of public anger against his economic reforms catching the 40-year-old leader off-guard.

After a meeting with members of his government on Sunday, the President asked his interior minister to prepare additional security forces for future protests and said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe would hold talks with political party leaders and representatives from the protest movement.