France Is Veering Toward a Potential Debt Crisis Amid Protests and Turmoil

France has been engulfed by turmoil, with students out on the streets to protest cuts at schools. Investors are rebelling against the government, too, by questioning the country’s ability to manage its huge debt pile.

France has emerged as the European epicenter of global turmoil in bond markets and serves as a warning to politicians around the world contending with higher borrowing costs. It’s a perilous financial backdrop to the protests. On Thursday, for the second time in a week, high school students and their supporters came out across France, calling for more teachers and the renovation of dilapidated school buildings.

Rising interest rates expose the vulnerability of countries with high debt burdens and stubborn deficits. When governments must spend more on debt payments, less money is left for other priorities like improving schools, building more housing or cutting taxes — and that can push frustrated voters into the streets or into the arms of populist political parties.

“These bond yield rises have very real implications,” said Mahmood Pradhan, a nonresident fellow at Bruegel, a think tank in Brussels, and former deputy director of the European department at the International Monetary Fund.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/business/france-bond-yields.html