WHICH BANK WILL BE FIRST FOR THE BIG SALE?
In France a great debate is raging. Which companies and banks, nationalized in 1981 when the Socialist Party came to power, should be de-nationalized.
For the Socialist government led by premier Laurent Fabius the writing is on the wall. Few forecasters predict they will hold on to power after the general election in March 1986. The election is likely to leave socialist president Francois Mitterrand in glorious isolation at the Elysee Palace, with a Gaullist or conservative government beneath him.
In anticipation of this, right-wing politicians are already drafting a denationalization programme. There are rumours that the Left may even start a pre-election sell-off, as a vote-catcher. Whoever starts: how will it be done? And will it begin with the banks?
Alain Juppe, a senior member of Gaullist leader Jacques Chirac's staff, put the the banks at the top of the list for denationalization. The government should, he said, be pragmatic. Some banks should be confronted only by gradual degrees--say, 10 or 15% a year-- with the challenge of the market. Others, better equipped for the fray, could be denationalized by up to 80% immediately.