The governor of the Bank of France had promised that the next rate of the popular savings account (LEP) that he would propose would be much higher than inflation, which reached 3.7% over one year in December. And he has largely kept his word. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, made it official this Monday during an exchange with the readers of La Voix du Nord that the yield of the LEP, accessible to the most modest French people, will be 5% from February 1 and for the next six months.
"With inflation going to fall below 3%, you will have a popular savings account whose interest will be more than two points above inflation," the head of Bercy said. He added that "no other European country offers the working classes such protection of their savings".
Second boost in six months
This slight reduction in the LEP rate from 6% to 5% is indeed very good news, since the strict application of the formula, i.e. the six-monthly average of inflation, resulted in a theoretical rate of 4.3%. This is the second consecutive boost given by the public authorities to this regulated savings account, which rose to 1% on 2023 August 6 when it should have been reduced to 5.6%. This preferential treatment is in contrast to the Livret A, the rate of which was frozen on 1 August 2023 and for 18 months at 3%, far from its theoretical remuneration.
Enough to contribute to the renewal of popular savings dear to François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the Bank of France. While 18.6 million French people are eligible for it subject to income conditions, the number of LEPs had fallen to 6.9 million for an outstanding amount of €38.3 billion. Today, 10.7 million savers have one for a total outstanding amount of €66.6 billion.