At 2% from August 1, the Livret A rate of return will remain unchanged until at least next February. Interviewed on Sunday by the parisianthe Banque de France has ruled out, in effect, granting an exceptional boost to savers on November 1.
However, a January 2021 decree specifies that “on April 15 and October 15 of each year, if the Banque de France considers that the variation in inflation or in the money markets justifies it, the governor may propose to the Minister responsible for the Economy to review the “regulated savings” rates on May 1 or November 1.
Do not encourage saving
With inflation of 5.6% in September in one year, savers could therefore have expected a rise in the Livret rate on an exceptional basis. But a Banque de France spokesman explains to the Parisian that “the revaluation of August 1” has already been “significant, even more so in the Popular Savings Book” whose rate is now 4.6%, compared to 2.2% before August.
Above all, the Banque de France does not want to encourage savings to the detriment of household consumption in a context of a slowdown in the world economy. In addition, an increase in regulated savings rates on November 1 would have dealt a further blow to life insurance, which has already suffered from competition from Livret A savings accounts in recent months.
For the first time since September 2020, the amounts disbursed for life insurance in August exceeded deposits, by 700 million euros. For its part, Livret A had the best month in its history last month with net inflows of 4,500 million euros.
Note that despite the increase in its rate in recent months, the real yield on Livret A remains negative given inflation. A further increase is expected on February 1, 2023.
Source: BFM TV
