A customer walks near a vehicle at a Renault carmaker dealer amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium May 29, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman
PARIS (Reuters) – French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday the government had not yet signed off on a planned 5 billion euro ($5.6 billion) loan for carmaker Renault (RENA.PA), though he hoped the loan would be agreed soon.
Le Maire also told RTL radio he expected Renault to be “exemplary” in its talks with unions, regarding the likelihood of job cuts in France, and that the government wanted Renault’s northern France sites to become “centres of excellence”.
On Sunday, Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said Renault had no plans to close its Maubeuge plant in northern France. Last week, Renault announced 15,000 job cuts globally as part of a major restructuring.
($1 = 0.8984 euros)
Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Andrew Heavens