Carole Sirou “The rating of France is extremely high” – ladepeche.fr

The Standard & amp Europe President; Poor’s, Carol Sirou, in Toulouse today. The rating agency welcomes the commitment to reforms and rules out any threat to the French debt

The president of the rating agency Standard & amp.; Poor’s for Europe, Carol Sirou will be in Toulouse today. Invited as part of the “Forum Economic Recovery

and Financing” *, organized by the University Dauphine DFA and Toulouse Business School, she will speak alongside the Standard & amp chief European economist; Poor’s, Jean-Michel Six. The occasion for the famous rating agency to make a point on the French economy.

A rise in interest rates would make it unsustainable French debt?

Carol Sirou : France has a level and a high debt service but thanks to low interest rates, the country enjoys a break. The risk related to interest rates is real. Is it likely? This is a real risk, but we do not think in the short term material. I recall that France is rated AA with a negative outlook, which remains extremely high notes reflecting strong fundamentals even if there is pressure on the national debt. The next update of the notes will be held in April.

JM. Six: You can not answer the question of the French rate without taking into account the European monetary context. French debt is very liquid and attractive and this in a European monetary framework that offers significant guarantees. Mario Draghi, the ECB president warned that any attack against the European debt would be defended.

Will The rise in US interest rates announced consequences in Europe?

JM. Six : The US Fed plans to raise rates as the recovery phase is confirmed. So she stopped its purchases of securities in the market and interest rates will rise, in our mid 2015. A rise in US long rates results in a 1% increase in long rates in Europe of 0.5%. Mario Draghi will do its best to contain the increase in order to limit the impact on our economies.

What will be the growth in France in 2015?

Carol Sirou We expect less than 1%, between 0.8 and 0.9%. Two major sectors of our economy, building and automotive, are stopped while other European countries are restarted.

Why this discrepancy?

JM. Six : France is the only country where fiscal adjustment was mainly achieved through tax increases. This sharp increase in the tax burden caused consequences for household consumption and business investment. Despite the ads, economic agents fear of further increases in 2015 which paralyzed the recovery.

What are the structural reforms needed in France?

Carol Sirou : It is not our role to give advice on public policy. We note, however, progress on the labor market with the laws of 2013 and the particular responsibility pact.