Paris - The French government will undertake measures to ensure that banks continue to pump money into the economy despite the continuing crisis in the finance sector, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said Tuesday. The announcement was made after an emergency meeting between Sarkozy and the heads of French banks and insurance companies at the Elysee Palace in Paris, and after the French government joined Belgium and Luxembourg in bailing out the French-Belgian financial services group Dexia.
In a statement issued following the meeting, Sarkozy's office said the government would introduce measures by the end of the week to incite banks to keep financing the economy. No further details were provided.
After the meeting, participants went out of their way to assure the French people that its finance sector was not in danger of collapsing.
"The French finance system is stable. There are pilots aboard," the head of the insurance giant Axa, Henri de Castries told reporters.
And the head of the Bank of France, Christian Noyer, told French radio, "The French finance system is one of the safest in the world. There is no reason to be afraid."
The meeting came after the governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg agreed to inject 6.4 billion euros (9.2 billion dollars) into Dexia.
"It was indispensable that the government intervene," French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said, and added that the measure was "necessary to assure the stability of the entire finance system."
After rising more than 10 per cent during the day on the Paris Bourse, Dexia shares gave up some of its gains and ended the day up 4.47 per cent, at 7.52 euros. On Monday, Dexia's share price fell by 28.50 per cent, to its lowest-ever level.
Taking its cue from the recovery on Wall Street, the Bourse's blue-chip CAC 40 closed Tuesday's day of trading above the psychologically important threshold of 4,000, gaining 1.99 per cent on the day, to 4,032.10.
Axa led the list of winners, gaining 6.24 per cent to 22.89 euros. The day's big loser was the troubled European aerospace giant EADS, which gave up 2.79 per cent, to close at 12.00 euros.
