(Bloomberg) -- Christine Lagarde repeated that the European Central Bank is “attentive” to the bond market, while declining to comment on the election fight dominating her home country of France.

Asked on a panel at her institution’s annual retreat in Portugal about whether policymakers can do much to prevent market fallout, the president quipped “thank you so much for your question” before reiterating language she previously used on the topic. 

“Obviously the European Central Bank has to do what it has to do,” Lagarde said. “Our mandate is price stability. Price stability is obviously relying on financial stability, and we are attentive to that because this is part of our job and we will continue to do so.”

  • Sign up for the Paris Edition newsletter for special coverage throughout the French election.

The snap election in France is prompting investors to demand the highest risk premium for its debt since 2017 amid worry that the result could lead to more spending and further bloat the country’s public finances. The far-right National Rally won an initial vote and is trying to clinch a parliamentary majority in the upcoming runoff on Sunday.

“I’m not going to comment on the political situation of any of the member states, particularly those that are facing elections,” Lagarde said.

The ECB president — a former French finance minister — has been less forthcoming in discussing the situation back home than colleagues. Earlier Tuesday, for example, Chief Economist Philip Lane said that the widening of bond spreads “looks like an ordinary repricing to me.”

Lagarde said that officials are watching markets in the way they always do. 

“These are the things that we monitor —  this is part of the job,” she said. “It’s not particularly this point in time, we do that all the time. And we are very attentive.”

--With assistance from James Hirai, Mark Schroers, Jana Randow and Marilen Martin.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.