PARIS — The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen finally secured a bank loan for her financially struggling campaign to challenge President Emmanuel Macron.
The candidate in the April presidential election obtained a 10.6 million euro loan ($11.8 million) from a European bank, Jordan Bardella, president of her National Rally party, told Agence France-Presse.
A spokeswoman for Le Pen didn’t immediately respond to a question about which bank provided the loan.
Banks have been reluctant to help fund Le Pen’s campaign in a sign she’s still seen as toxic by many businesses despite her efforts to reach out to more moderate voters.
Earlier this week, Le Pen told Bloomberg News she might be forced to run a very low-cost campaign if she couldn’t secure financing.
Polls consistently give Macron around 25% of votes in the election’s first round. Le Pen and another right-wing candidate, Valerie Pecresse, are fighting for the second place, with around 17%, according to polls. Far-right TV pundit Eric Zemmour, polling at about 12%, is eating into some of Le Pen’s and Pecresse’s electorate.
Le Pen, 53, has long complained that new rules restrict the ability of candidates to raise funds. Since 2017, only European banks can loan money to French presidential hopefuls. In the past, Le Pen’s party obtained a 9 million euro loan ($10 million) from a Russian company. Her party is also saddled by debt.
She was defeated by Macron in the second round of the election five years ago by 33 percentage points.
Banks have their own internal parameters to consider granting loans. High poll numbers are typically needed, along with assurances that the candidate meets the legal requirement of 500 signatures from elected officials.
In 2017 Macron’s campaign spent about 17 million euros ($18.9 million) to about 14 million ($15.4 million) for Le Pen, according to public data. The state reimburses part of the candidates’ expenses.
