PARIS (Reuters) – Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Tuesday there currently was no evidence business bankruptcies will go beyond catching up from exceptionally low levels seen last year, warning against exaggerating a wave of insolvencies.
Many European countries saw corporate bankruptcies fall to historic lows last year as governments put in place a range of measures to help them survive the coronavirus crisis and the lockdowns that left many businesses shuttered for months.
“Is there a risk of going beyond catching-up with an increase beyond the 2020 bankruptcy ‘deficit’? Nothing can be excluded, but nothing allows it to be anticipated today,” Villeroy told an online European Investment Bank conference.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Alison Williams)
