New problems for companies

We illustrate our analysis with the case of France, but it could apply to any country. The COVID crisis has given rise to several new problems for companies: The rebalancing of balance sheets: equity will have to be shored up to stabilise debt leverage, given the increase in debt; The need to prepare for the future: there are need s for investment in new products, new technologies and in the energy transition, despite the problems in the short term and despite the increased risk aversion of some partners (credit insurers, possibly banks, etc.); Building resilience to crises . This can be done by building up large cash reserves, but this method ties up resources, which are used non-productively; Keeping supply chains working, which may be jeopardised if some companies in these chains are in difficulty; Shareholder retention , in particular because shareholders are increasingly shunning companies that flout environment al , social and governance (ESG) norms.