Pour the governor of the Banque de France, two criteria must be met to be in a war economy: the «shifting of the production apparatus towards armament industries» and «unorthodox financing of these military expenses.» The governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, estimated this Wednesday that France was «not in a war economy», even though he praised the ECB for being more attentive to geostrategic factors. «I believe that we are not in a war economy. We must face an increase in defense spending, which is very different,» said François Villeroy de Galhau at the Paris Forum on Defense and Strategy. «I will venture to give a definition,» with «two criteria» for the war economy, according to him: the first is «a shift of the production apparatus towards armament industries», and the second «the unorthodox financing of these military expenses – and let’s be clear, we’re printing money,» specified the governor. «When we look at Russia and Ukraine, they currently meet one of the two criteria, not necessarily the second,» said the head of the French central bank. «We are even more attentive» He noted that the European Central Bank is surrounding itself more with geopolitical experts. «We are even more attentive. And you will be interested to know that in the last six months, we have already had two seminars with specialists in geopolitics and defense, with whom we have discussed within the council of governors,» he detailed. «I have been in this job for 11 years. In the first 10 years, we did not do that. But I believe that it shows the importance for us to analyze, as openly and competently as possible, with the help of experts, our environment,» emphasized François Villeroy de Galhau. A «ministerial meeting on the war economy» is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, according to a statement from Matignon on Wednesday. It was supposed to take place on March 16 and had been postponed. The Prime Minister intends to «draw a clear assessment of the three years of war economy engaged by France,» highlighting «progress» but «this effort must still be amplified» in the face of «the rapidly evolving international situation,» Matignon explained when announcing the meeting. This meeting should also allow to «precisely assess the capacity of the industry to respond to additional orders provided for in the framework of the updating of the military programming law» envisaged in the spring, Matignon also explained.
