Symbolic imageFrench bond yields rise again as central bank chief rules out ECB help
French ten-year yields climbed on Wednesday and the euro fell to a 16-month low against sterling. Central bank chief Emmanuel Moulin said the ECB need not step in.
Moulin told France Inter on Wednesday, 7 October, that conditions for an ECB intervention are not in place and that the solution lies in France, through a budget that cuts the deficit. He rejected Marine Le Pen's call for the ECB to act once public finances improve, saying the bank's task is keeping inflation near 2 per cent. According to the FT, ten-year yields rose 0.12 points to 4.87 per cent, and the spread over German Bunds, which briefly topped 1.5 points last week, was almost 1.4.
Mélenchon attacks Moulin
Leftist candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon said on X that Moulin had committed an "act of treason" and should be prosecuted, after Moulin warned in the FT that France risked being "strangled by interest rates". Moulin said he would not be intimidated and likened the attacks to pressure on Jay Powell in Trump's America; Mélenchon doubled down on Wednesday.
Paris weighs shorter maturities
The Wall Street Journal reports exclusively that France is considering issuing more shorter-term debt. Reuters reports that French lawmakers spared pensioners from cuts as the budget review began.