(Reuters) – European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said on Monday the institution was closely monitoring the situation on financial markets, as France’s sovereign debt comes under pressure following the summons early legislative elections.
“We are attentive to the proper functioning of the financial markets,” she said during a visit to the headquarters of the French start-up Pasqal in Massy, Essonne.
Five ECB officials told Reuters the ECB had no plans to discuss using its emergency bond-buying program to help France.
The president also reiterated the institution’s efforts to bring inflation back to its 2% target.
“Today as President of the ECB my objective is to bring inflation down to 2%. It may seem trivial when we look at the current political issues (…) If we let this inflation go while we are in the process of controlling it and we have started this third stage of the path of monetary policy, it is totally counterproductive,” she said.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas, written by Diana Mandiá, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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