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摘要

Bertrand de Mazieres, the newly-appointed chief executive of Agence France Tresor, faced an unenviable task when he took the post last December. The agency has a reputation as one of the most innovative and well-respected sovereign issuers, so in his new role, Mr de Mazieres has much to live up to. His strong educational background at L'Ecole Nationale d'Administration and the Hautes Etudes Commerciales, his track-record at various government agencies and his most recent posting as secretary general of Gonseil des Marches Financiers all equip Mr de Mazieres admirably well for his new post. He is also a studied and strong supporter of inflation-linked funding. That support is crucial: a considerable part of the agency's reputation stems from its innovative inflation-linked bond issuance programme. Since the agency first introduced an inflation-linked bond in 1998, the French market has developed to become one of the most significant globally. The achievement is a notable one. Inflation-linked issuance accounts for just 7% of the outstanding French sovereign debt, compared with 25% of long-term government debt in the UK and Sweden. Moreover, France was the first inflation-linked issuer in the eurozone, where overall levels of such issuance are still low.