Hollande Reality Makes French Debt Less Attractive

During his first two weeks in office, President Francois Hollande saw French borrowing costs go in one direction, and that was down. Not anymore.

The yield on the French benchmark 10-year bond advanced to 2.63 percent at 6:30 p.m. in Paris, up from a euro-era low of 2.071 percent on June 1. It was as high as 2.902 percent on May 15, when Hollande took office. The rate is at risk of rising further with French banks vulnerable to the region’s debt-ridden nations as economic growth stalls.