France is bolstering security ahead of Saturday’s nationwide protests with 20 percent more police than the previous weekend, as well as military personnel and special forces. Bloomberg News reports. Last weekend’s violence led to the looting of 3,000 shops and 2,700 arrests.
President Emmanuel Macron has limited authorization for demonstrations to trade-union-organized protests, which has drawn criticism from the left. At the same time, concern is mounting in the financial market. The yield spread between French and German ten-year government bonds widened by 16 basis points on Thursday to 175 basis points, the highest level since 2011. Credit rating agency Moody’s may downgrade France’s credit rating on Friday.
