France to assign public-interest roles and missions

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 SEPTEMBER 2026 —

Banque de France has published a detailed statement of its public-interest missions, describing responsibilities that span euro-area monetary policy, banking supervision, currency issuance, state banking and consumer protection.

It also facilitates corporate financing by rating companies and running a credit-mediation service for firms in difficulty, the statement said, adding that it identifies and anticipates risks to financial stability — including those linked to climate change — with its partners and decides on specific measures and regulations for the risks identified.

As the French pillar of the Eurosystem, Banque de France participates in setting the key interest rates at which the central bank lends to commercial banks, targeting 2% inflation over the medium term, the statement said. Price stability is defined as an inflation rate close to 2% according to economic models, which anchors consumption expectations and supports growth dynamics, the bank said.

Banque de France is the largest printer of euro banknotes and manages their circulation on the basis of five pillars: acceptability, accessibility, resilience, quality and efficiency, the statement said. Banknotes remain the leading payment instrument in Europe and France by number of transactions, the bank said, while it also oversees scriptural payment systems — cards, transfers, cheques and electronic money — alongside the ACPR and the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).

The central bank holds the French state’s accounts and executes budgetary payments, civil-service salaries and tax collections under Eurosystem rules that prohibit lending to public entities, the statement said. It also manages the country’s gold reserves, the fifth largest in the world, and its foreign-exchange reserves, while offering investment services on gold to institutional clients, the bank said.

On consumer protection, Banque de France receives individuals and professionals facing over-indebtedness or difficulties accessing basic banking services such as account opening and microcredit, the statement said. It also assists company directors in their dealings with banks, publishes statistics and studies for analysts, academics and the public, and operates the national economic, budgetary and financial education strategy (EDUCFI), the bank said.

Since 2019 it has run Citéco, a dedicated economics museum, to explain economic concepts and mechanisms to a broad audience, the statement said.

The statement reinforces the operational framework that underpins euro-area monetary transmission, a channel that feeds directly into ringgit funding costs and portfolio flows for Malaysian investors holding euro-denominated assets.

Related: Banque de France