The Livret A rate maintained at 3% on February 1, that of the popular savings booklet (LEP) lowered to 5%

As planned as part of the freeze until January 2025 announced in July 2023, the Livret A rate will be maintained at 3% on February 1 and for six months, as part of its next revision, announced the Minister of Finance. Economy Bruno Le Maire this Monday morning. On the other hand, the rate of the popular savings book (LEP), reserved for people with modest incomes, will be lowered slightly, from 6% to 5% on February 1 and for six months.

“With inflation which will fall below 3%, you will have a popular savings account whose remuneration will be more than two points above inflation”, underlined Bruno Le Maire in the regional daily La Voix du Nord where he responded to readers of the newspaper, as part of his first trip since the reshuffle. For the Livret A too, “this brings the remuneration above inflation”, he said. However, for the moment, inflation remains above 3%: it stood at 3.7% year-on-year in December according to INSEE, but the institute forecasts that it will fall to 2.6 % next June.

Bercy therefore followed the recommendations of the governor of the Bank of France, the latter estimating in a press release published this Monday that there was “no reason to return” to maintaining the Livret A rate at 3%. The calculation formula however gives a higher rate, at 3.9%. Rate which also applies to sustainable and solidarity development booklets (LDDS). Livret A and LDDS accounts represent nearly 550 billion euros in outstanding amounts.

Regarding the LEP, following the calculation formula, its rate should have fallen to 4.4%. But the governor of the Banque de France decided to propose a rate of 5% in order to “give an additional gain in purchasing power to low-income households and maintain the appeal of this instrument to the 8 million eligible French people non-LEP holders,” he explains. “I decided, with the governor of the Bank of France, to give a helping hand by setting the remuneration at 5%,” Bruno Le Maire also indicated on X (ex-Twitter). This is an exceptional rate on the savings market and it is well above inflation which is at 3.7%.”

This booklet, reserved for households declaring up to 22,419 euros of tax income for a single person, or 34,393 euros for a couple (two shares), has grown significantly in recent years, its number increasing from 6.9 million at the end of 2021 to 10.7 million in November 2023, “with a target of 12.5 million within six months”, specifies the Banque de France. In total, 19 million French people are eligible. The total outstanding LEP peaked at 66.6 billion euros at the end of November, according to the latest tally from the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC).