The rate for French government bonds maturing ten years stood at 2.92% around 3:30 p.m. GMT and its German equivalent, considered a benchmark on a European scale, was at 2.04%. The difference between these two rates, called the “spread”, amounted to 0.88 percentage points, a level comparable to 2012.
A true barometer of investor confidence in France's signature, this “spread” has seen a rapid increase of 0.08 points since the close of the previous session, last Friday. Such a movement “has not been seen since June and the dissolution,” Nicolas Forest, head of investments at the Candriam company, explains to AFP.
“It’s a sign of crisis. Normally, a French spread only moves by 0.01 or 0.02 points in one session,” he adds. France borrows at a level comparable to that of Greece, a symbol more than fifteen years after the European debt crisis.
“Investors are sanctioning the lack of vision and the growing uncertainty, while the objective remains to reduce the public deficit to 5% by 2025,” explains Andrea Tueni, head of market activities for Saxo Bank.
This renewed concern on the markets is also reflected in a sharp drop in the shares of French banks on the Paris Stock Exchange: around 3:30 p.m. GMT, Société Générale lost 3.21%, BNP Paribas 2,03% et Credit Agricole 1,93%.
The National Assembly began Monday at 3:00 p.m. the examination of the PLFSS (bill on the financing of Social Security), resulting from a compromise between a committee of senators and deputies.
In response, the opposition party La France insoumise announced it would submit a motion of censure, which should be voted on by the National Rally, and would therefore mean the end of Michel Barnier's government.
