“Let’s put ourselves for a moment in the mind of an investor who has decided to lend his money. He sees a country, France, whose public finances are very degraded. Finances which are also degraded by a rating agency in the midst of a political crisis with the added bonus of seeing a new government emerge from the polls which will spend even more. Our investor wants to protect himself against the risk of not being reimbursed. It will therefore impose a slightly higher credit rate on France, exactly like a bank which lends to a household with fragile finances,” explains François Lenglet. “This week, the interest rates paid by France therefore increased by 0.2% because of the fear that our country now inspires, i.e. 600 million euros of annual interest to be paid in addition in five days only with taxpayer money. This is an unpleasant but stubborn reality. A country which borrows 285 billion euros per year is in the hands of its creditors”, he explains. “”France’s policy is not made on the Stock Exchange”, said General de Gaulle. But at the time, our finances were in balance, sovereignty at its price”, recalls François Lenglet. TF1 | F. Lenglet
