2023-07-13 11:02:00
The Governor of the Banque de France decided on Thursday to maintain the yield on the Livret A rate at 3%, despite inflation, and not to apply, for the second time in a row, the formula for calculating the rate which would have resulted in 4.1%.
To better pass the pill to the 55 million or so Livret A holders, the governor has however proposed that this rate, normally revised every six months, be maintained until January 2025, thus avoiding a potential drop in here there.
The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, who has the last word on the Livret A rate, must announce his choice from the 1 p.m. television news on Thursday on TF1.
For his part, the Governor of the Banque de France also proposed to set the return on the People’s Savings Book (LEP), reserved for low-income households, at 6% instead of the 5.6% provided for by the formula. It is now at 6.1%.
While half of the holders of a LEP have reached the ceiling of 7,700 euros, according to the Banque de France, it has also been proposed to raise it to 10,000 euros.
Two reasons
The Livret A rate depends on the one hand on the rise in prices, recorded at 4.5% over one year in June, and on the other hand on the interbank rates of the last few months, at which the banks exchange money short term.
But the authorities have the possibility of derogating from this formula in the event of circumstances deemed exceptional. This is what happened in February 2022 when the Banque de France proposed rounding to 1%, instead of 0.8%, then in February 2023, but in the other direction this time, when the institution had proposed 3% instead of 3.3%.
The Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, “today proposed to the Minister to leave the rate of the Livret A fixed at 3%, but giving savers a guarantee that this rate would be maintained over 18 months, i.e. until January 2025”details the press release from the central bank.
According to this text, two reasons played a part in this decision: inflation, which is falling and might generate volatility in the rate in the months to come, and the fact that“too high a rate, while regulated savings have no equivalent among our European neighbours, would be detrimental to our economic activity and to growth”.
The Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC), which manages 60% of the amounts deposited, and the Social Union for Housing, part of whose financing depends on this rate, were heard since they had pleaded for a maintenance at 3%.
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