It is the most used investment in France. The governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, proposed on Wednesday to lower the rate of the Livret A to 2.4% on February 1, against 3% currently, and to bring back that of the Livret d'épargne populaire (LEP) , reserved for low-income households, at 3.5%, compared to 4% today.
This new Livret A rate, the compass of French savings, “will amplify the very positive movement to revive the financing of social housing and local authorities observed for more than a year”, writes the Banque de France in a press release. It is now up to the new Minister of the Economy, Eric Lombard, to endorse these rates, which will come into force on February 1.
This is the first reduction in the Livret A rate since the start of 2020, when this rate went from 0.75% to 0.50%. We have to go back to 2009 to find a larger drop, greater than 0.6 points.
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Bad news for clients, good news for social housing?
The lowering of the Livret A remuneration rate, also valid for the Sustainable and Solidarity Development Livret (LDDS), is bad news for the 57 million holders of a “little red livret”.
However, it offers a breath of fresh air to those who pay it: the banking establishments and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), which Éric Lombard headed until his appointment as minister at the end of December. The sums deposited in Livret A and LDDS accounts are 59.5% managed by the CDC and intended mainly to finance social housing.
11.8 million holders by the end of 2024
Livret A and LDDS grew by 17.5 billion euros between January and November 2024, reaching an outstanding amount of 582.3 billion euros, according to the latest data from the CDC.
If the governor of the Banque de France strictly applied the calculation formula for the Livret A rate, he wanted to deviate from it for the LEP rate in order to avoid a drastic fall. Thus, the rate proposed for the LEP on February 1 is 3.5% instead of the theoretical 2.9% according to the calculation formula. “It is essential to continue this momentum in favor of popular savings,” insists the Banque de France in its press release.
The number of LEP holders, a savings account accessible under income conditions, stood at 11.8 million at the end of 2024, still far from the 19 million eligible.
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