Inside Macron's pitch meeting with Wall Street as budget woes mount
Macron met with Wall Street executives to discuss France's fiscal outlook
Potential tax increases to address France's deficit were discussed
Macron emphasized France as an investment destination despite economic challenges
Updates with more attendees names in paragraph 4
By Nupur Anand and Michel Rose
NEW YORK/PARIS, Oct 4 (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron has given top U.S. financiers a candid assessment of his country's financial woes, flagging the potential for looming tax increases, sources said this week, in an effort to tamp down concerns over France's gaping deficit.
Macron, a former investment banker, met with more than a dozen Wall Street executives in New York during the U.N. General Assembly late last month, aiming to reassure them about France's deteriorating fiscal outlook, according to three people who heard Macron speak.
In a more than one-hour meeting with 13 senior financiers and asset managers including Goldman Sachs President John Waldron and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Macron offered a frank view of the French and European economies, they said.
Mary Erdoes, CEO of JPMorgan asset and wealth management, Jim Zelter, president of Apollo Global Management and Morgan Stanley's co-president Dan Simkowitz also attended the meeting.
Macron spoke about increasing taxesto fund the country's budget, one of the participants told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private. The president was also candid about France's economic challenges, the source said.
He also touted France as a potential investment destination and discussed how to expand business from multinational companies.
Macron was well acquainted with the meeting participants after seven years of holding "Choose France" summits. Those gatherings sought to shift investor perceptions of France as a dynamic, pro-business nation instead of a sclerotic, high-tax country.
He met the bankers on Sept. 24 just as his new minority government was starting to thrash out a budget to address a deficit that risks topping 6% this year, fueling speculation about tax hikes.
The meeting followed a smaller, but similar gathering during the Olympics in Paris this summer.
Europe's economic slowdown has spurred the need to consolidate public finances through targeted, and temporary, tax increases, Macron said, according to a second person who was present at the meeting.
The hikes would mark a U-turn for France, which cut taxes for big business under Macron. He asked investors at the meeting to not over react to any tax increases, and said his goal was primarily to cut spending.
Foreign investors own around 50% of France's overall government debt, much higher than other euro zone countries including Italy, Spain and Germany.
Macron aides said the president has been focused on France's credibility with investors since the summer's snap election, which resulted in a hung parliament and political uncertainty.
Macron's office declined to comment beyond the brief statement it made last week announcing the meeting.
In a clear sign of investor nerves, French borrowing costs, which are typically lower than Spain's because the country is seen as less risky, have exceeded Spanish ones.
Still, Macron avoided making promises to the assembled financiers, the first participant said.
The president is taking a proactive approach in meeting with business leaders, a third person said.
The Wall Street gathering came a week before Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced that he planned to bring the deficit down to 5% in 2025 by cutting spending and raising some taxes temporarily on big corporations and wealthy individuals.
Barnier's budget minister has spoken of a 60-billion-euro belt-tightening drive next year.
Macron also discussed artificial intelligence, nuclear energy and regulations, the participants said.
Reporting by Michel Rose in Paris and Nupur Anand in New York; Editing by Lananh Nguyen, Richard Lough, Sandra Maler and Toby Chopra
Actifs liés
Dernières actualités
Avertissement : Les entités de XM Group proposent à notre plateforme de trading en ligne un service d'exécution uniquement, autorisant une personne à consulter et/ou à utiliser le contenu disponible sur ou via le site internet, qui n'a pas pour but de modifier ou d'élargir cette situation. De tels accès et utilisation sont toujours soumis aux : (i) Conditions générales ; (ii) Avertissements sur les risques et (iii) Avertissement complet. Un tel contenu n'est par conséquent fourni que pour information générale. En particulier, sachez que les contenus de notre plateforme de trading en ligne ne sont ni une sollicitation ni une offre de participation à toute transaction sur les marchés financiers. Le trading sur les marchés financiers implique un niveau significatif de risques pour votre capital.
Tout le matériel publié dans notre Centre de trading en ligne est destiné à des fins de formation / d'information uniquement et ne contient pas – et ne doit pas être considéré comme contenant – des conseils et recommandations en matière de finance, de fiscalité des investissements ou de trading, ou un enregistrement de nos prix de trading ou une offre, une sollicitation, une transaction à propos de tout instrument financier ou bien des promotions financières non sollicitées à votre égard.
Tout contenu tiers, de même que le contenu préparé par XM, tels que les opinions, actualités, études, analyses, prix, autres informations ou liens vers des sites tiers contenus sur ce site internet sont fournis "tels quels", comme commentaires généraux sur le marché et ne constituent pas des conseils en investissement. Dans la mesure où tout contenu est considéré comme de la recherche en investissement, vous devez noter et accepter que le contenu n'a pas été conçu ni préparé conformément aux exigences légales visant à promouvoir l'indépendance de la recherche en investissement et, en tant que tel, il serait considéré comme une communication marketing selon les lois et réglementations applicables. Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez lu et compris notre Avis sur la recherche en investissement non indépendante et notre avertissement sur les risques concernant les informations susdites, qui peuvent consultés ici.
