Agence France Trésor, whose mission is to manage the State's debt, publishes an index, the TEC 10, every day, which reflects the financing conditions of the public debt for the 10-year maturity. The figure of 3.30% is the lowest in several months and testifies, contrary to many comments, to the confidence of the markets in France's ability to manage its debt. By way of comparison, the American and British rates are above 4%. In the euro area, the gap with Germany continues to narrow and has fallen to 57 basis points from more than 70 basis ...

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According to figures published every day by the Agence France Trésor, which manages France's public debt, the rate on 10-year government bonds (OATs) reached 3.59% on December 11, after 3.61% the day before, the day after the National Assembly adopted the Social Security financing bill. This was the highest level in recent years and 0.3% higher than the rate observed at the beginning of the month. Does this market evolution reflect an increased mistrust of the French economy, when one could have legitimately hoped the opposite after the success achieved by the government?

Certainly not ...

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The publication of the 1st estimate of the growth of the French economy in the 4th quarter comes after several other very unfavourable indicators have been made public: a sharp rise in unemployment over the same period, the persistence of a trade deficit over the last twelve months close to 90 billion euros, the continued fall in housing starts (30% in two years) all in a context of accumulation of public deficits and record debt. The only good news concerns inflation: it rose to 1.4% in January over one year and makes France one of the best pupils in ...

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