France raises 2023 bond issuance to 270 billion euros

PARIS (Reuters) – The French government will raise its bond issuance next year as redemptions rise and it draws less on funds from the Treasury’s account to cover its financing needs, the Agence France Tresor (AFT) public debt management agency said on Monday.

The Agence France Tresor said it planned to issue 270.0 billion euros ($261.5 billion) of medium and long-term bonds next year, net of buybacks, up from 260 billion this year.

The AFT said it was raising issuance next year even though the financing requirement was largely stable at 305.5 billion euros because it planned to draw less from the Treasury account than last year.

Presenting its 2023 budget, the Finance Ministry said on Monday that the state budget deficit was expected to fall to 158.5 billion euros from 172.6 billion this year.

Meanwhile, the amount of bonds maturing next year and needing to be redeemed would rise to 151.6 billion after 140.8 billion this year, AFT said.

In addition to issuing bonds, AFT said the financing requirement would be covered by drawing 18 billion euros from the Treasury’s account, increasing the amount of Treasury bills outstanding by 10.4 billion euros, accessing 6.6 billion euros from a special fund earmarked for amortising debt linked to the COVID crisis and tapping other cash resources worth 500 million euros.

($1 = 1.0326 euros)

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)