France’s Le Pen says Euro exit 'wouldn't be chaos'

PARIS: French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen sought on Sunday to reassure voters concerned over her plas to withdraw the country from the euro zone, saying it "wouldn’t be chaos" and she would seek "well-prepared" talks with other European Union countries.

Opinion polls show the anti-EU, anti-immigrant National Front (FN) leader qualifying for the April 23 first round of the presidential election but losing the May 7 run-off to centrist Emmanuel Macron.

Leaving the euro is one of the FN’s standard-bearing policies, both a mark of its anti-establishment stance that attracts voters angry with globalisation, and a likely obstacle to its quest for power in a country where a majority oppose a return to the franc.

"The euro triggered a very serious increase in prices and a very steep drop in purchasing power," Le Pen said in an interview published in Le Parisien newspaper on Sunday.

"It is also a serious hindrance to job creation because it triggered a loss in competitiveness for the French economy." However, some 72 per cent of French voters oppose a return to the franc, an Ifop poll published in Le Figaro newspaper showed.