2023-07-18 15:04:13
The Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, recently recommended to the Minister of the Economy to derogate from the automatic increase in the remuneration of the Livret A from 3% to 4.1%, to follow inflation in the country. . Recommendation followed to the letter by Bruno Le Maire, who announced Thursday, July 13 that the interest rate of the Livret A and that of its twin brother, the sustainable and solidarity development booklet (LDDS), will remain blocked at 3% for next eighteen months.
The Governor and the Minister affirmed that raising the remuneration of these products, “would be detrimental to our economic activity and the growth », since it would encourage the French to save rather than consume. In addition, this would lead to an increase in the cost of social housing and would weigh on the margins of banks already weakened by the rise in interest rates. And above all, argues the Governor of the Banque de France, “Inflation has started to decline quite significantly ».
The continuation of this trend would therefore suggest that the rate of 3% will allow a remuneration “significantly higher than inflation during the year 2024”. In the meantime, the 56 million Livret A holders in the country are seeing their savings lose value: the shortfall in terms of interest rates for the holders of the savings accounts concerned (Livret A and LDDS) is estimated at 2 .8 billion euros, for 510 billion euros in deposits in total.
A positive signal for low-income households
In comparison, the People’s Savings Account (LEP), although modeled on other products, seems to escape this argument. This product, reserved for modest French people, benefits from a much more favorable regime. Remuneration will increase, from 1is August, to 6% instead of 6.1% – above, therefore, the rate of 5.6% which would have been reached by a strict application of the calculation formula.
In addition, the deposit ceiling will be raised from 7,700 to 10,000 euros. A difference in treatment which is explained by the desire to protect the savings of the least favored categories, while times are tough for purchasing power: the tax income ceiling giving the right to open a LEP is 21,393 euros for a single person, 32,818 euros for a childless couple and 38,531 euros for a couple with one child.
It is also explained by the fact that the LEP represents an outstanding amount almost ten times lower than that of the Livret A − 58 billion euros for the first against more than 500 billion for the second. An increase in the remuneration of popular savings gives a positive signal to modest French people while having much less adverse impact on the economy, and represents a much lower cost for banks than an equivalent measure for the Livret A .
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