The Local France

French government in row over growth forecast

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:01:00 +0100

The French government became involved in an embarrassing internal row on Tuesday after the Finance Ministry was forced to deny an earlier statement Foreign Minister that they will reduce its forecast for growth of the economy this year from 0.8 percent.

ECB demands France stick to deficit targets

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:26:00 +0100

A top member of the European Central Bank Friday called on France to stick to its deficit-reduction targets after Paris indicated it might miss its goal due to worse-than-expected growth figures.

Obama and Hollande pledge growth and stability

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:24:31 +0200

US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande backed European growth and eurozone stability on Wednesday, ahead of key decisions on resolving the debt crisis.

Hollande: ECB must cut rates to boost economy

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:57:00 +0200

The frontrunner in the race for the French presidency, Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, urged the European Central Bank on Friday to lower its interest rate to support growth.

France's Coeuré appointed to ECB board

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:21:00 +0100

France's Benoît Coeuré was officially appointed to join the executive board of the European Central Bank, stepping into the shoes of Italy's Lorenzo Bini Smaghi from January 1st, the European Union announced.

France and Germany spar over top ECB job

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:36:00 +0100

France and Germany are battling for a key post at the European Central Bank amid deepening differences over the role the bank should take in the eurozone debt crisis, sources revealed on Tuesday.

Eurozone bond markets squeeze France

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0100

French and Spanish borrowing costs shot up on Thursday as the spread between their bonds and those of Germany hit a record high despite political leaders' promises to end the eurozone debt crisis.

Use 'overwhelming force' to fix crisis, US tells EU

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:32:00 +0100

The United States urged Europe on Thursday to use "overwhelming force" to fix the sovereign debt crisis threatening to tip the world economy into recession.

ECB in surprise interest rate cut

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:20:00 +0100

The European Central Bank on Thursday unexpectedly cut its prime interest rate by a quarter of a point to 1.25 percent, in an apparent attempt to bolster Europe’s economy amid the Greek debt crisis.

Record French bond gap shows eurozone tensions

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:04:00 +0100

The gap between German and French sovereign borrowing rates widened to a record on Thursday and the 10-year cost of borrowing for Italy reached a record briefly above 6.402 percent.

ECB 'ready to buy Spanish and Italian debt'

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:42:00 +0200

The European Central Bank is ready to buy Spanish and Italian government debt to try and stem the eurozone crisis, French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said Monday.