PARIS, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Friday that the Livret A rate would be raised to 1% on February 1 from 0.5% currently. same as that of the Sustainable and Solidarity Development Booklet (LDDS).
This revision will be accompanied by an increase in the rate of the People’s Savings Book (LEP), reserved for the most modest categories, to 2.2% against 1.0% currently.
“The Livret A rate will double on February 1, it will go from 0.5% to 1%. that a doubling, it will go from 1 to 2.2%”, declared the minister on TF1.
The government has therefore followed the recommendation of the Governor of the Banque de France on the development of these rates, the calculation formula for which is based on the inflation rate.
This is the first increase since August 2011 for the Livret A, whose rate of return has remained at a historic low of 0.5% since February 1, 2020.
Despite a negative return, since its rate remained lower than inflation, the Livret A, which provides liquid and tax-free savings, remains one of the preferred investments of the French, with 55.7 million holders. at the end of 2020 according to Banque de France data.
At the end of November 2021, the total outstanding amount of the Livret A stood at 343.4 billion euros – down from its historic high of 346.3 billion euros reached in September 2021.
This regulated savings product drained part of the surplus financial savings accumulated by French households during the confinements that marked the start of the health crisis.
(Written by Myriam Rivet, edited by Nicolas Delame, Blandine Hénault and Sophie Louet)