France, Aug. 28 -- Thursday's debate, organised in Paris by France's largest employers' federation, the Mouvement des entreprises de France (Movement of the Enterprises of France, Medef), brought together seven leading candidates who have announced they will run in the election next April.

The candidates, ranging from the hard left to the far right, agreed that France's economy was in trouble but differed sharply over how to tackle it.

France's public debt stood at €3.536 trillion at the end of March 2026, or 117.5 percent of GDP, while its deficit in 2025 was about €152.5 billion, or 5.1 percent of GDP, national statistics office data showed. Economic divides

Far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen said her party wou...