French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen faced off in their only campaign debate on Wednesday ahead of Sunday's decisive second round of the presidential election.

For Le Pen, who lags behind Macron in voter surveys, it was a chance to close the gap, and for the incumbent, an opportunity to defend his five-year record.

Macron is favorite to win Sunday's runoff, with most polls showing an advantage of over 10%, one poll shows 14% of voters are waiting for the debate to decide who to vote for, while 12% say it will be decisive for whether they will vote at all.

On arrival at the TV headquarters, Le Pen said she was "relaxed," while Macron said he was "focused, ready for a debate that will allow each of us to explain our ideas for France."

Focus on economy 

The debate, which started at 1900 UTC, centered heavily on the French economy, a dominant theme in the election.

Le Pen said if she was elected president, she would give a permanent boost to salaries. "In real life, when you ask a bank for a loan, they ask about your salary, they laugh at your grants. I propose to increase wages," Le Pen said.

"All you do is hand out cheques... my priority is to give French people their money back," she told Macron.

Meanwhile, Macron said, "I don’t want people listening to us to think their salaries will rise by 10%."

War in Ukraine

Le Pen has been criticized for her ties to Russia. But during the debate, she said she wanted to express her solidarity with Ukrainians, a clear sign that she wanted to sweep aside her past ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

"The only sanctions I disagree with is the blocking of Russian oil and gas imports. Why do I disagree? Because in reality it will do no harm to Russia and will do enormous harm to our people."

Macron took a hit at his contender, saying she was beholden to Russian financing. 

"You are dependent on the Russian government and you are dependent on Mr Putin," Macron said, referring to a loan agreed by Le Pen's party with a Czech-Russian bank which he said was "close to the Russian government." 

The runoff election

The election presents voters with two opposing visions of France: Macron offers a pro-European, liberal platform, while Le Pen's nationalist manifesto is founded on deep euroskepticism.

Le Pen has worked to moderate her more extreme stances. The far-right leader no longer wants France to leave the EU outright, although still wants to free France of "the Brussels straitjacket" and reform the EU from the inside.

Macron must still convince enough supporters of socialist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon — who came third in the first round — to support him, rather than abstaining or spoiling their ballot.

If he succeeds, he will become the first French president to win a second term since Jacques Chirac in 2002.

lo/fb (AFP, Reuters)