France’s 10-year sovereign yield has reached 4.25%, exceeding borrowing costs for Italy and Greece and marking its highest level since 2008. The shift reflects growing investor concern over France’s high public debt, persistent deficit and weak economic growth. As maturing low-rate bonds are refinanced at current market rates, debt rollover (replacing maturing debt with new borrowing) is lifting the average interest cost across the debt stock. The annual public debt interest bill is expected to rise from about €65 billion ($75.4 billion) in 2025 to €77 billion ($89.3 billion) this year, putting it ahead of national education spending. Crédit Mutuel chairman Daniel Baal said the warning threshold had already been reached, while stressing that French savers and banks would face direct danger only in a sovereign default, which he said is not the current situation. Baal described eurozone membership as a protection against still higher rates, rejected Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s proposal to cancel the debt on the grounds of European treaties, and warned that leaving the eurozone would carry heavier consequences. Further credit-rating downgrades could raise yields again and make financing more difficult. The deterioration leaves the government weighing fiscal consolidation against the risk of a continuing debt and distrust spiral.