France - Economy: Hollande taps bank economist to steer economic policy - by Emmanuel Jarry

Francois Hollande has chosen a senior economist at a U.S. bank as his new top economic advisor, an official in the French president's office said on Tuesday, as France tries to sustain a sputtering economic recovery.

Emmanuel Macron is stepping down as Hollande's advisor and will be replaced by Bank of America Merrill Lynch's chief European economist, Laurence Boone, the official said.

Boone holds a doctorate from the London Business School and sits on the board of French luxury goods group Kering.

Before joining Merrill Lynch in London, she was an economist at Barclays in Paris and before that worked at the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Boone was not immediately available for comment, but in an earlier interview with Reuters, she said Hollande had little choice but to push ahead with his current policies.

"Early elections would make his parliament majority collapse, switching to a policy completely focused on demand is not possible now in Europe, deeper reforms would not fit with the government’s strategy to keep the left of the party on board," Boone told Reuters on May 27. "This leaves the option of continuing like before, by default."

Read more: Hollande taps bank economist to steer economic policy - Yahoo News