Faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, the eurozone states have multiplied support plans for households and businesses, in order to avoid bankruptcies and mass layoffs. A situation which also leads to a mountain of public debts and widening deficits. They should "explode from 15 to 20% of GDP," said François-Xavier Chauchat, economist at Dorval Asset Management. Consequence: the European Central Bank (ECB) should adjust its debt buyback program upwards. An initial program of 750 billion euros by the end of 2020.

But faced with the crisis, States also have a role to play. ECB President Christine Lagarde has already warned European Union countries against the risk of "acting too little, too late". The challenge is therefore to put in place a common budgetary policy, at European level, which would complement the action of monetary policy. "Even if what the ECB does help the budgets of the states, it would be much more comfortable if there were an embryonic European budget, at least to manage the issue of the coronavirus," remarks François-Xavier Chauchat.

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