France struggles to reassure financial markets as Asian investors fuel distrust

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure is no stranger to "roadshows," having spent many years in the banking sector. Now he is back on the road defending France to institutional investors in major global financial centers. On Thursday, October 8, he gathered about a dozen international banks and asset managers in London to reassure them about France's financial outlook and its ability to pass the 2027 budget, if necessary, by executive order.

The day before, he gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal to deliver the same message to American investors. "We're going to use whatever it takes," the French minister pledged, hoping that this oft-repeated phrase would bring the same relief as when Mario Draghi rescued the euro on July 26, 2012.

Lescure will then travel to Luxembourg on Friday. While the ECOFIN Council, which brings together the finance ministers of the 27 European Union countries, may officially be devoted to the capital markets union, it will primarily allow him to discuss with his counterparts the best way to ease bond market tensions, even though any intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB) is entirely ruled out at this stage. Finally, the International Monetary Fund's annual meetings in Bangkok, which begin on Sunday, will give him the opportunity to hold numerous one-on-one discussions with global financial players, including certain Asian funds that are already turning away from France.

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