France’s debt woes in focus as ECB meets - Kuwait Times

FRANKFURT: France’s deteriorating public finances will take centre stage when the European Central Bank meets this week, but policymakers are not expected to throw a lifeline to the eurozone’s second-biggest economy just yet. The ECB is set to keep interest rates on hold, having already hiked them twice this year, walking a fine line between tamping down inflation fuelled by the Iran war energy shock and supporting the eurozone economy. But the focus of Thursday’s meeting is likely to shift quickly to France and "how the ECB will respond to the ongoing fiscal and political crisis,” said Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics.