The weekend ends with a focus on France, following the resignation of Prime Minister Michel Barnier due to the no-confidence motion backed by Marine Le Pen’s far-right party. According to Le Pen, the outgoing administration’s plan to bring the budget gap down to 3.0% by 2029 was not credible for the country, and a “reasonable trajectory” based on wealth creation and savings is needed.
“We want to absorb the deficits, but we want to do it intelligently, without depriving ourselves of the opportunity to reindustrialize and help businesses.” Le Pen explains that a budget can be presented “in a matter of weeks,” as long as the next prime minister is prepared to reduce the deficit more slowly. Le Pen’s words were well-received by the market, and we saw the French-German spread narrow to 77.8 basis points.
Now Macron is trying to steer the political chaos and promises to fulfill the rest of his term as president, which will end in 2027, by appointing a prime minister in the coming days and tasking them with forming a government of general interest that represents all political forces.
