Roland Lescure, the French Minister of Economy and Finance, told the BBC that he issues government bonds every two weeks and that there is "absolutely no problem" with the process, aiming to ease concerns about France's growing debt. He made these remarks to reassure international investors, especially those from Anglo-Saxon countries, following a previous interview with the financial news outlet Bloomberg. Despite rising interest rates and worries about the country's public finances, Lescure said that investors continue to buy French government debt. However, borrowing costs for France have increased significantly in recent months, meaning the government must now pay more to finance itself. When asked about the state of French public finances and the nervousness in the bond markets, Lescure emphasized that investors still show interest when the government seeks to borrow. "I issue bonds every two weeks, and there is absolutely no problem," he said during the BBC interview. "People want French paper, but they want it more expensive than before." This statement aimed to downplay concerns about France's ability to finance its debt, as borrowing rates have risen sharply in recent weeks. On Wednesday, the French Ministry of Economy had already tried to calm the markets by telling Bloomberg that it would not change its strategy for issuing debt. The ministry, known as Bercy, plans to continue using the available flexibility of the French Treasury Agency (AFT), which is responsible for raising funds needed to finance the government, especially during bond auctions. The yield on ten-year French government bonds, known as OATs, reached 4.89% on October 1, the highest level since 2002. Just three months earlier, the rate was around 3.6%. Another sign of investor concern is the spread between French and German borrowing costs, which reached about 120 basis points by the end of September—the highest since 2011. This means that France now has to offer about 1.2 percentage points more in interest than Germany to borrow money for ten years. While the increased borrowing costs do not mean that France cannot find buyers for its bonds, it does indicate that investors are demanding a higher risk premium to lend money to the country. Roland Lescure also expressed confidence that the government would be able to get its 2027 budget approved, though he acknowledged the need to address the public deficit. "The public deficit is alarming, and that is why we must act now," he said to the BBC. The 2027 budget plan includes a total budgetary effort of 54 billion euros, combining measures from the finance bill and the Social Security budget. However, the government faces a challenging political environment and opposition to the planned austerity measures. This uncertainty has led some investors to distance themselves from French debt. Shinji Kunibe, a bond manager for the Japanese group Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, announced that he had sold all of his French debt holdings. "French bonds offered a relatively attractive yield, but we liquidated our entire position due to the recent evolution of the situation," he said. "We have mainly redirected these funds towards German Bunds and, to a lesser extent, towards short-term Japanese government bonds."