After next week’s meeting, Economy and Finance Minister Éric Lombard and Lecornu are expected to unveil plans that will incentivize banks and private investors to help grow France’s defense sector.
When it comes to unlocking capital, the economy ministry’s preferred option is to leverage the Public Investment Bank, or Bpifrance, and the state-funded Caisse des dépôts et consignations, three people with firsthand knowledge of the plans told POLITICO. French life insurance policies, a type of savings product, could also be used to channel funds into the defense industry, they said.
“There are several avenues being explored, including strengthening Bpifrance’s instruments, possibly in the form of a retail fund that could open up possibilities for the general public,” said one of the individuals.
On Thursday, Lombard ruled out setting up a new type savings account dedicated to defense.
The economy ministry has also refused to tap into funds from France’s most popular savings account, the Livret A — even as Macron said that people’s savings could be mobilized to finance the defense effort. One of the arguments is that French citizens wouldn’t have the possibility to opt out, because of the way the savings account is structured.
Lawmakers from both the National Assembly and the Senate have long pushed for parts of the Livret A to be used to help defense small and medium enterprises borrow money — and there is “some discontent” about the economy ministry’s refusal to move on the issue, said one of the three individuals with firsthand knowledge the ministry’s plans cited earlier in this story.
The Livret A is “the point that can move the most in the next 10 days,” another one of the people said.