credit. nevertheless, the financing needs of the real economy are still largely met, thanks to the soundness of french banks. besides, credit deceleration, as long as it takes place in an orderly manner, is justified, after the recent rise in private debt ratios ( households and non - financial corporations ). in this respect, i would like to point out that france's debt ratio is the highest of the major european countries at 147 % of gdp in q3 2022, compared to 119 % on average in the euro area. this leaves the third major economic agent : general government as a whole. france's public debt ratio is not only 20 percentage points higher than that of the euro area as a whole ( 113 % of gdp compared with 93 % in q3 2022 ), 1 but it is not decreasing, unlike that of the other major countries of the euro area. since energy prices are declining, we must now begin to rapidly reduce support measures, while targeting them at those who need them most. tariff shields may have been useful in the short term to cushion the energy shock, but they cannot alleviate it altogether. indeed, a lasting victory against inflation cannot be achieved by fiscal measures, but by monetary policy and by strengthening our productive supply. more broadly, the response to this crisis, to this new world, lies above all in a major effort to adapt. in fairness – and this is just as page 5 sur 5 important for me as it is for you - and over time, we must successfully achieve the three major transformations that are the key to our economic and social success : the energy and climate transformation ; the digital transformation ; and the transformation of work by increasing its collective quantity and its individual quality. to conclude, i will repeat this conviction : we have the capacity to succeed together. rest assured that the banque de france, together with its staff throughout the branch network, will be fully mobilised in this respect.

smes and vses. bank credit is partially replacing market financing due to a more contained increase in its cost. as regards businesses, we should remain vigilant but not alarmist as we sometimes hear. admittedly, their cash position has deteriorated, falling from an initially high level, as confirmed by our last monthly survey – in industry more than in services - but we are not witnessing a major return of the " spectre of defaults ”. at the end of january, the number of defaults had risen to just under 43, 000 over the past 12 months. 1 this level is above the artificially low level recorded during the covid years with their exceptional support measures, but still well below the average of roughly 59, 000 recorded over the 2010 - 19 period. we should gradually move towards this figure, and we are monitoring the situation of smes and vses in some of the more fragile sectors very closely. at the same time, business start - ups remain at a record level, at over 400, 000 excluding microentrepreneurs. similarly, we do not have any general concerns about the reimbursement of sgls. since february 2022, we have received 671 requests, covering less than 0. 1 % of the total number of sgls. of the eur 143 billion that have helped close to 700, 000 businesses, eur 46 billion have already been repaid. and today, over 95 % of businesses are repaying their sgl correctly. the banque de france's credit mediation remains mobilised in each of your departements to address the most difficult cases, within the framework of the " local agreement " renewed for 2023. regarding households, growth in housing loans still amounted to + 5. 3 % in december ( and + 5. 1 % in january ) in the context of a gradual rise in the average rate, which then stood at 2. 05 %, 2 compared with 2. 9 % on average in the euro area and 3. 5 % in germany. in france, housing credit remains the cheapest, business failures | banque de france ( banque - france. fr ) excl. fees and insurance ; loans to individuals — december 2022, banque de france, 3 february 2023 page 4 sur 5 most abundant and safest in europe - with 97 % of outstanding loans at fixed rates. source : ecb of course, we have come out of the years of exceptionally easy