Penned in

3 May 2017 By Swaha Pattanaik Follow @swahapattanaik

Marine Le Pen’s anti-euro rhetoric will be a liability in Sunday’s election. Some undecided voters may share the far-right leader’s distrust of the EU. But ditching the single currency would be punitive for a country with the euro zone’s third-highest savings rate.

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Far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said on April 29 there was no rush to dump the single currency, and that other policy changes might take precedence. Le Pen will face centrist Emmanuel Macron in the final round of the presidential elections on May 7.

Le Pen has repeatedly said that, if elected, she would seek a radical loosening of the European Union's structure and, within six months, call a referendum on a divorce from the bloc if she did not get partner countries to agree to her terms. The separation would include replacing the euro.

Le Pen said in an interview with Reuters published on May 2 that capital controls were an option if there were a run on banks as she negotiated France’s exit from the EU but added that they were unlikely to be needed.

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