France bond market does not need ECB to step in, finance minister says
TLT•Finance Minister Roland Lescure said turbulence in France’s bond market has not reached the point where the country should consider using the ECB’s bond-buying tool to stabilize borrowing conditions.
1. ECB support not needed
Lescure said France’s bond-market turbulence had not reached the point of considering the ECB’s Transmission Protection Instrument, adding that the aim was to avoid reaching that point and that the government was emphasizing financial consolidation. The instrument allows the ECB to buy an unlimited number of bonds from a euro zone country experiencing an “unwarranted, disorderly” tightening of financing conditions.
