France can overcome its debt issues, ECB's Villeroy says

France must not wait to tackle its rising debt and there is no reason why the euro zone's second largest economy, which has just been downgraded by Fitch, should not be able to do that, Bank of France head Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Tuesday. "We must deal with it now.

France must not wait to tackle its rising debt and there is no reason why the euro zone's second largest economy, which has just been downgraded by Fitch, should not be able to do that, Bank of France head Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Tuesday.

"We must deal with it now. We must succeed, we can succeed," the European Central Bank member told France Inter radio.

"Our neighbours ... not just Germany, but also Portugal, Italy and the Nordic countries, have succeeded in doing so," he added. "There is really no reason why France should become Europe's laggard in the long run."