The rate of your Livret A will increase to 3% on February 1. Good news, in theory, since his remuneration is currently 2%. Except that the Livret A rate should have gone to 3.3%. A noticeable difference in rates, especially when inflation reaches peaks.
Bruno Le Maire said this Friday on France 2 in the 1 p.m. newspaper by formalizing the new rate of the Livret A on February 1, which will go from 2 to 3%: “This is very good news” for the 55 million of French people who hold one. And by extension for those who have a Sustainable and Solidarity Development Booklet (LDDS), whose remuneration follows that of the Booklet A.
For the third time in just one year, the Livret A rate will increase. A year ago it was just 0.5%, so it will go down to 3%. The 12-month trajectory is impressive.
A technical rate of the Livret A at 3.3%
Except you could have gotten even more as early as February. Indeed, the formula for calculating the Livret A rate takes into account the average level of inflation and interbank rates during the previous half-year, i.e. in this case between July and December 2022. By applying it, the Livret A rate should have been 3.3%. This was recognized by the Governor of the Banque de France in his recommendation on the new Livret A rate, addressed to the Minister of the Economy, which recommended a rate for the Livret A at 3% in February.
The Governor and the Minister of the Economy have decided to derogate from the calculation rule, as authorized by the regulations, in the event of exceptional circumstances. “This possibility was used in January 2022 to round the result of the formula for the Livret A account to 1% (then 0.8%)”, recalls the Governor.
Two reasons led him to argue for limiting the rise in the Livret A rate to 3%. On the one hand, the fact that this rate is “central” for the financing of social housing and city policy. Indeed, the more than 500 billion euros massed on the booklets A and the LDDS make it possible to finance social housing, the social and solidarity economy or even energy savings in housing. ” Too high a rate would be very unfavorable to this key sector for our social cohesion and our economic activity”, explains the Governor.
Livret A and LDDS at 3%: how much more interest will you earn over a year?
A 3.5% boost spread
The latter took into account another element to explain his proposal to increase the rate of the Livret A to 3%. This jump “already represents a significant increase in compensation compared to the 2% in effect since August 1, and the 1% a year ago. It is desirable that the rate movements of the livret A remain progressive rather than too volatile, and this up as a potentially down day”.
Arguments which therefore convinced the Minister of the Economy, even if he was not obliged to follow the position of the Banque de France. It could have given the Livret A rate a boost to 3.5%, for example, especially in a context where prices are expected to rise by 7% in January.
On the other hand, the calculation formula was respected for the popular savings account, the rate of which will drop from 4.6% to 6.1%. “It is indeed the real popular savings product, whose purchasing power will thus be protected against inflation standing at 5.9% at the end of December”, underlines the Banque de France. 18 million French people are entitled to the LEP, but only 8.5 million have opened one. You are perhaps one of those 10 million individuals who have every interest in claiming an LEP from their banker.
LEP at 6.10%: how much more does it earn over a year?