France's far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon lashed out at the ECB's interest rate hike, stressing that the move poses a risk to economic growth. Melanchon proposed to deal with France's huge debt problem by canceling some French treasury bonds held by the Bank of France and the European Central Bank. Melanchon said that the ECB holds a large amount of French government debt and proposed to cancel this part of the debt held by the ECB, saying that it “essentially is our debt to ourselves.” This week, policymakers in Frankfurt generally expect a second rate hike to curb inflation. In this context, the politician, known for his fierce rhetoric, emphasized the risk of interest rate hikes to economic growth. France was once on the verge of recession in the first half of this year.

France's far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon lashed out at the ECB's interest rate hike, stressing that the move poses a risk to economic growth. Melanchon proposed to deal with France's huge debt problem by canceling some French treasury bonds held by the Bank of France and the European Central Bank. Melanchon said that the ECB holds a large amount of French government debt and proposed to cancel this part of the debt held by the ECB, saying that it “essentially is our debt to ourselves.” This week, policymakers in Frankfurt generally expect a second rate hike to curb inflation. In this context, the politician, known for his fierce rhetoric, emphasized the risk of interest rate hikes to economic growth. France was once on the verge of recession in the first half of this year.