'Get your house in order': IMF chief's stark warning for France over surging bond yields

The head of the International Monetary Fund had a blunt message to the French government in a CNBC interview on Wednesday: bring your finances under control. France is currently in the throes of another political crisis, with violent student protests now stretching into their third week. The movement – which has seen young people across the country demonstrate discontent with long study days, teacher shortages and rundown schools – comes as the French government seeks to win over a politically fractured parliament and convince lawmakers to agree to tens of billions of euros worth of spending cuts. Political instability in France has put pressure on the country's government bonds, known as OATs. Investors now demand a higher yield than they do for bonds issued by the Italian government, with French 10-year bond yields rising by more than 100 basis points since the start of the year. "What we see in France is a complication of, on one side, the consequence of borrowing shock after shock after shock, climbing on this staircase that does not lead to heaven, and on the other side, a political dynamic scene in France that creates more difficulties for the finance ministry to put a clear ...