France’s Finance Minister Is the Calm Hand Macron Needs Now

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“He broke with a form of arrogance,” Socialist lawmaker Dominique Potier said. “State of mind is fundamental — he’s there to serve, not for his own glory.”

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Lombard also intends to navigate international relations with caution. In April, as Macron lashed out against Trump’s trade threats, Lombard sent a very different message at IMF meetings in Washington, softening the tone and saying he agreed with the US’s analysis of trade imbalances.

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On joint borrowing in Europe, something Macron has often called for but which remains controversial in Germany, he’s careful not to force the issue and typically stresses that France’s priority must be repairing its own public finances.

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When pushed, Lombard says mutualized debt would give the EU more weight, but only makes sense if there is a clear political purpose.

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“It’s like everything — you mustn’t do the symbolic for the sake of doing something symbolic,” Lombard said.

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Lombard is no stranger to financial and political turmoil. As an adviser to Socialist Finance Minister Michel Sapin in the early 1990s, he was in the thick of the fight against market speculation that pushed France to the brink of tumbling out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism, a precursor to the euro.

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At the height of the crisis, Lombard stood in for his boss explaining to US investors in New York why France was a safe bet. Yet the Bank of France had exhausted its reserves defending the franc and was only saved with a credit line from Germany’s central bank.

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That trial by fire will serve Lombard in the current situation, where the so-called bond vigilantes are on the prowl for governments that let their fiscal position deteriorate too far. The US is in the spotlight over its deficit and Trump’s tax-cut plans, while in Europe the concern is increased defense spending.

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France’s 10-year yield was at 3.2% on Monday. It rose to about 3.6% in March, the highest since 2011.

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For Lombard, preparing for the next budget battle, that’s a reminder that investors aren’t particularly forgiving right now. France’s situation is already perilous, with the deficit in breach of the EU limit and debt above 110% of GDP and rising.

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Banking Career

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After time as a government adviser, Lombard returned to finance, working at BNP Paribas and Generali SpA.

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But, worried about the path of capitalism and inequality, he stayed connected with the reformist wing of the French left, and in 2007 founded an association known as Les Gracques, which collaborated with a young Emmanuel Macron. The group was named after the ancient Roman Gracci Brothers, who tried to push reforms to distribute land rights to the poor.

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In Macron’s lightening rise from adviser in a Socialist government to pro-business president in 2017, Lombard saw a renewal of the center left he’d espoused in the early 1990s. To transition back to the public sector, he successfully lobbied the new French leader to appoint him head of Caisse des Depots — a public financial institution answering directly to parliament.

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“He swims in politics in with simple ease, while not being at all political,” Sapin said. “He’s not a politician, but he’s of the left — although how you can be of the left in a government under Macron’s authority, that’s another question.”

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There’s an underlying tension between the center-left circles Lombard has worked with over the years and Macron’s approach, rooted in lowering taxes for investors and the rich while pledging to tackle deficits with spending cuts and unpopular overhauls like raising the retirement age.

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Among the president’s core supporters in parliament, Lombard’s style is popular as they recognize a need for cooperation. But there are also concerns that his method of quiet dialog opens up space for a cacophony of budget proposals from more politically minded ministers who are eyeing the end of the Macron era in 2027.