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Macron’s call for elections in France adds to fears of financial woes

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Investors made clear on Tuesday the depth of their concerns over President Emmanuel Macron’s gamble to call for new elections in France, driving up the nation’s borrowing costs, pushing down stock prices and prompting the Moody’s ratings agency to warn it may downgrade French sovereign debt as risks of political instability rise.

Mr. Macron’s dissolution of the lower house of Parliament on Sunday after his party was battered by Marine Le Pen’s far-right party in European Parliament elections has ignited concerns that the government could grind to a stalemate. The turmoil has focused attention on France’s fragile finances, and the prospect of legislative gridlock that could undermine the government’s ability to address it.

“This decision will not ease the economic challenges facing the country,” Philippe Ledent, senior economist at ING Bank, wrote in a note to clients. Public finances and the performance of the French economy will be “at the heart of the electoral campaign,” he added.

As the head of France’s conservative party on Tuesday called for an alliance with the far right to beat back Mr. Macron ahead of two rounds of national voting that will start on June 30, investors punished French stocks, sending the Paris Bourse down 1.33 percent, after a sharp fall on Monday.

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The yield on France’s 10-year government bonds rose sharply for a second day amid investor unease over France’s ability to manage its finances. Bond yields are indicative of the government’s borrowing costs, and elevated levels would make it harder to stimulate the economy and manage the country’s debt.

France is suddenly facing uncharted territory. The prospect that Ms. Le Pen’s party, the National Rally, could triumph in the hastily called legislative elections — which could weaken Mr. Macron’s grip on power and possibly force him to govern with a prime minister from his political opposition — risks piling economic havoc atop the political toll.

“Fiscal and domestic economic policies are set by the government, which needs a majority for its legislation in Parliament,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London. “For a fiscally challenged France, new parliamentary elections add a level of uncertainty.”

The turmoil comes with the French economy in a rough patch, as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, economic slowdowns in Germany and China and record-high interest rates take a bigger-than-expected toll on growth. Mr. Macron’s government recently warned that growth would be weaker than expected this year, and his finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, was charged with finding more than 20 billion euros in savings quickly as the nation’s finances deteriorate.

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After the government spent lavishly during the pandemic to support the economy and shield consumers from high energy prices, French debt has climbed to 3 trillion euros, or 110.6 percent of gross domestic product. The government deficit for 2023 stands at €154 billion, accounting for 5.5 percent of gross domestic product, one of the worst performances in the eurozone.

France is now at risk of breaching European Union budget rules that restrict government borrowing and is likely to be sanctioned next week by the European Commission, the E.U. executive branch. On Tuesday, Mr. Le Maire warned that France could be thrown into a “debt crisis” if Ms. Le Pen’s party gained power.

Paris had been increasingly concerned about French debt being downgraded by international rating agencies, which increases borrowing costs. On May 31, Standard & Poor’s downgraded France’s debt rating, rattling the government, whose economic credibility has been one of its main political assets.

Then on Tuesday, Moody’s warned that Mr. Macron’s maneuver could deepen France’s financial woes by creating “a polarized political environment.” By dissolving the National Assembly, Mr. Macron had increased the risks that France will not be able to bring its budget back in line, raising the prospect of a further downgrade.

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“There is a high risk of greater political instability in the future,” the agency said, adding that Parliament could be thrown into political gridlock for at least a year because the winner of the upcoming elections was unlikely to have an absolute majority. That could mean that almost any legislation Mr. Macron puts forward would be blocked, including measures to cut government spending needed to avoid breaching the European Union’s fiscal rules.

The danger is that France’s high debt balloons even further, which could lead to a faster-than-expected rise in interest payments, Moody’s added.

Ms. Le Pen and her firebrand protégé, Jordan Bardella, have backed higher public spending to address issues that have driven waves of voters to the National Rally party, especially a loss of purchasing power brought by high inflation and energy costs, and demand for job creation in areas that have been devastated by industrial losses to globalization.

Mr. Macron has sought to play the role of a European leader during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the National Rally has assiduously been courting voters, especially in rural areas.

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Ms. Le Pen’s party won by large margins this weekend in places that have lost jobs to deindustrialization. The National Rally has grabbed bigger audiences for its pledges to bolster purchasing power, create employment through “intelligent” protectionism and shield France from European policies that expanded globalization.

Mr. Macron has been trying to counter the rise of National Rally, which has seized on the economic slowdown, immigration issues and regulatory requirements imposed by the European Union to attract disenchanted voters.

Now in the middle of his second term, Mr. Macron has sought to show that he was moving France back to business, burnishing its image especially with foreign investors. He has overhauled France’s rigid labor code to make it easier for companies to hire and fire and is streamlining France’s generous unemployment system.

He is also overseeing an enormous subsidized industrialization program that has attracted hundreds of billions of euros in commitments from multinational companies. These include the creation of four big battery plants for electric cars in northern France and a beefed-up pharmaceutical industry with new investments from Pfizer and Novo Nordisk, which will expand production of its popular Ozempic and Wegovy weight-loss drugs.

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Last month, Mr. Macron hosted hundreds of global chief executives at the Palace of Versailles for an annual business conference that drew large new pledges, including a €4 billion investment by Microsoft for a new data center in eastern France.

Even so, France’s economic slowdown has been noticeable, particularly to voters who have swung to Ms. Le Pen’s party. Many feel inequality has widened, rather than narrowed, as Mr. Macron pledged, in the seven years since he took office.

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Passengers Escape Death By Whiskers As Bus Burst Into Flames In Lagos

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The driver and conductor of a BRT bus have fled for their lives, abandoning passengers to their fate, as a BRT bus caught fire at Maryland, Lagos State, on Saturday morning.

Our correspondent, who was at the scene of the incident, said that the vehicle departed from Ikorodu en route to CMS when the sad incident occurred.

As of the time this report was filed, emergency responders, including officers of the Nigeria Police Force, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), fire services, and local security personnel, arrived at the scene to contain the blaze.

Firefighters at the scene.
One of the passengers on the bus told our correspondent the fire started as smoke from the driver’s side.

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According to her, the passengers initially thought the smoke emanated from other buses; however, the slight smoke soon worsened, immediately sending them into panic mode.

“As soon as we saw that the smoke grew bigger, we immediately rushed off the bus before the fire ignited”, she said, adding that none of the passengers sustained any injury.

She added that the driver fled the scene immediately after the fire started.

“The driver and the conductor ran away. They didn’t even wait to see what would happen to us.

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“Definitely, they knew what happened. They knew the bus was bad before putting it on the road and risking our lives,” she alleged.

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VOA Halts Operations In Nigeria, Others Over President Trump

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The United States-funded Voice of America (VOA) has gone off air in Nigeria, Ghana, Niger, and several other African countries after President Donald Trump cut financial support to the global broadcaster.

The shutdown, first noticed by millions of listeners in northern Nigeria, sparked panic when music began playing in place of scheduled broadcasts, a haunting reminder in the region of military coups or political takeovers.

“People started calling in, worried that there had been a coup in America,” Babangida Jibrin, a journalist who worked with VOA’s now-defunct Hausa-language service was quoted by Daily Trust.

The station’s abrupt disappearance from the airwaves last month left stunned reporters scrambling to explain what had happened to their loyal audience.

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VOA’s Hausa service, a lifeline for millions of listeners in rural and conflict-prone areas of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and Niger, had become a trusted source of international and regional news, especially in places where local media is either censored, inaccessible, or compromised by state influence.

With internet access unreliable or non-existent in these regions, shortwave and radio broadcasts like VOA filled a crucial void.

“People are now cut off from the world, especially from critical international news,” lamented Moussa Jaharou, a listener from southern Niger.

He described the shutdown as a “deliberate silencing of the poor.”

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Founded during World War II to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA later became a major player in Cold War-era broadcasting, offering an American perspective against Soviet disinformation.

Over the decades, it evolved into a beacon of credible journalism worldwide, particularly in authoritarian regions where press freedom is under attack.

In northern Nigeria, where insurgency, banditry, and government corruption are everyday realities, VOA Hausa provided in-depth, unbiased coverage that is often missing in local media.

Its disappearance has now left a gaping hole in a media landscape already struggling with state repression and misinformation.

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Critics blame Trump’s ideological war on independent institutions and his administration’s push to dismantle U.S.-backed international media.

The US president slashed VOA’s funding as part of a broader effort to bring the outlet under tighter political control, effectively killing off several regional language services.

It was also reported that over 1,100 “Hands Off!” protests and meetings were scheduled to take place across all 50 states in the U.S. on Saturday.

This was in response to the significant cuts to the federal workforce, reportedly overseen by Trump adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

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These nationwide demonstrations aim to voice opposition to the dramatic reductions in the federal workforce, which organisers believe are part of a broader effort to dismantle public services, including Social Security, Medicaid, and public education.

The protests are being organised by a coalition of over 150 organisations, including Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Service Employees International Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union, according to Yahoo News.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them,” the organisers say on their website. “They’re taking everything they can get their hands on, and daring the world to stop them.”

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Police rescue 14 kidnapped passengers of Benue Links

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The Benue State Police Command said they rescued 14 passengers of Benue Links Company who were abducted in Otukpo last Thursday.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Steve Yabanet disclosed this in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Catherine Anene and made available to newsmen in Makurdi on Saturday.

The statement said, “On 3/4/2025 at about 2030hrs a Toyota Hiace bus of Benue Links transport company was conveying passengers from Makurdi to Otukpo, on reaching Otukpo Burnt Bricks area, a gang of armed kidnappers shot sporadically at the driver and a passenger at the front seat, causing the driver to stop on the high way.

“Upon receipt of this information, the police in collaboration with members of the Benue state Civil Protection Guard swiftly moved to the scene and found the driver and one passenger who sustained gunshot injuries in the vehicle while others were whisked away by the kidnappers. The injured were conveyed to the hospital where they were confirmed dead by a doctor.

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“The team launched a search for the kidnapped victims within the nearby forest immediately. On 4/4/2025 at about 1500hrs they sighted the bandits in the forest and engaged them in a gun duel. The superior fire power of the police subdued them and they took to their heels abandoning their captives.

“Unfortunately, they had inflicted matchet cuts on two of the victims before the rescue. Fourteen (14) victims were rescued and taken to the hospital where one was confirmed dead and others are currently receiving treatment.

“The Commissioner of Police, Benue state command, CP. Steve Yabanet commiserates with families of the three passengers that lost their lives in this dastardly incident and pledge his commitment to bring perpetuators to book.

“He enjoins the good people of Otukpo to look out for suspects with gunshot injuries and report to the police as many of these bandits received gunshot injuries during the exchange of fire.”

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