BREAKING NEWS

ECB can provide emergency cash to French banks if needed

WASHINGTON - The European Central Bank could provide emergency cash to French banks if needed after the first round of France's presidential election on Sunday, but it doesn't expect such a move will be necessary, ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny said on Saturday.
"If there should be problems for specific French banks liquidity-wise, then the ECB has the ... ELA, Emergency Liquidity Assistance, but we don't expect of course any special movements," Nowotny, who is Austria's central bank governor, told reporters at the IMF and World Bank spring meetings.
Investors fear that a potential run-off between eurosceptic candidates Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon would raise questions about France's future in the European Union, roiling financial markets and undermining depositor confidence.