PARIS- The French government will keep its bond issuance stable next year as a bump in redemptions offsets a fall in the budget deficit, the public debt management agency said on Wednesday.

The Agence France Tresor said it planned to issue 260 billion euros of medium and long-term bonds next year, net of buybacks, unchanged for the third year running.

Presenting its 2022 budget, the Finance ministry said on Wednesday that the state deficit will fall to 143.4 billion euros from 197.4 billion this year as the coronavirus crisis wanes and the economy recovers.

At the same time, the amount of bonds maturing next year and needing to be redeemed - a legacy of a surge in debt issuance during the euro zone debt crisis a decade ago - would reach 149.8 in 2022 after 118.3 billion this year, the AFT said.

In addition to issuing bonds, AFT said the financing requirement would be covered by drawing 22.3 billion euros from the Treasury's account, increasing the amount of Treasury bills outstanding by 5 billion euros, accessing 1.9 billion euros from a special fund earmarked for amortising debt linked to the COVID crisis and tapping other cash resources worth 3.5 billion euros.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)