Why have France’s corporate and household debt ratios risen?

Since the subprime crisis, corporate and household debt ratios have fallen in the OECD and euro zone as a whole, but they have risen in France. Are we able to explain this difference in France compared with the other large OECD and euro-zone countries? With regard to French corporate debt, the explanation may be that French companies have wanted to maintain a high level of investment despite relatively low profitability; and also that their accumulation of particularly large cash reserves and acquisitions had to be financed ; With regard to French household debt, the explanation may be found in the sharp rise in real estate prices and strong competition among banks to grant mortgage loans, leading to particularly low interest rates on mortgage loans; Overall, the healthy state of French banks in the wake of the subprime crisis, relative to the OECD or euro-zone average, made possible this rise in corporate and household debt ratios in France , which cannot be seen elsewhere . All things considered, the increase in French household debt is more worrying, given its causes, than the increase in French corporate debt.