French five-year CDS rises to 97.75 basis points
The cost of insuring French government debt against default is at a 13-year high.
Published · Updated
UpdateThursday, October 22, 2026 at 12:04 PM ET
French 10-year bonds yield 50 basis points more than Italian 10-year bonds. That gap is reported to be the first of its kind. The spread adds to the stress in French debt set out above, though it measures bond yields against Italy, not the cost of default insurance.
Credit default swaps, or CDS, are contracts that insure against a borrower failing to repay its debt. The French five-year CDS is rising in trading today and stands at 97.75 basis points, LSEG data shows.
The French 10-year yield is at 5.084 per cent, above US Treasury yields for the first time since 2013. The French 10-year premium over Germany has widened to 176 basis points.
Through October, officials have said the French stress is contained to French assets and gold, and has not spread to US Treasurys or to wider risk sentiment. The CDS price measures something different from yields. It reflects the risk that France fails to pay its debt, not only the risk of rising rates. At 97.75 basis points, the cost of default insurance is at a 13-year high. The budget standoff and the street unrest are both still unresolved.
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