The French financial savings surplus caused by the Covid-19 pandemic amounted to 157 billion euros at the end of June, according to the latest figures from the Banque de France unveiled on Tuesday.
Since the first quarter of 2020, households have set aside around 267 billion euros, compared to the 111 billion expected outside the pandemic.
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"
This saving is linked to the fact that there are certain expenses that households would have made in normal times but that they could not do
" as in accommodation and catering, explained at a press conference Olivier Garnier, the Managing Director of the Banque de France. "
It is also the fact that despite an unprecedented fall in GDP, purchasing power and disposable income of households taking into account inflation has not fallen,
" he said. he continued.
“
Although sight deposits have collected the majority of this 'Covid savings', 2020 is therefore an exceptional year for regulated savings: payments into the livret A, flagship product of regulated savings, have reached their highest point. historic high, at 167 billion euros, an increase of 134% compared to 2019,
”said the Central Bank report.
The popular savings account remains underused
The total of regulated household savings - made up of deposits on livrets A, livrets de développement durable et solidaire (LDDS), popular savings accounts (LEP), home savings plans (PEL), plans d ' Popular savings (PEP) - grew by 5.5% in 2020, to reach 814 billion euros, or about 14% of household financial wealth, a stable figure.
The Livret A remains the darling of the French, who were 81.5% to hold one at the end of 2020, with an average outstanding amount of 5,500 euros (+400 euros compared to the end of 2019).
However, this figure hides strong disparities, according to the Banque de France report, since 13% of passbooks represent more than half of outstandings.
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Conversely, the popular savings account, the opening of which is subject to means-tested conditions but which offers a return of 1%, higher than the 0.5% of the Livret A, remains underutilized. Indeed, while 15 million people could claim it, only 7 million French people have one.
