Will French companies be able to repay their state-backed loans (PGEs)? (with Laurent Bach, Arthur Guillouzouic and Clément Malgouyres)

Using new registry data for firms ending their fiscal year in mid-2020, we document the take-up by French firms of the Prêts garantis par l’État (PGE, the French iteration of the pandemic loans). The PGEs were very popular with French companies in 2020, including among the largest companies. The analysis of corporate balance sheets indicates, as one would expect, that the gross debt of the beneficiaries has risen sharply. However, this was not actually accompanied by an increase in net debt to alarming levels because some recipients received other grants, and others were only using the PGE scheme as a precautionary measure. More info here