The Livret A raised 4.5 billion euros last month, registering the best month of August in its history, boosted by the rise in its rate from 1% to 2%, according to data published this Wednesday by the Caisse des deposits. For comparison, in August 2021, the net inflow (difference between deposits and withdrawals) amounted to €1.67 billion. Last month was marked by the rise in its interest rate, from 1% to 2%. It was still at 0.5% at the beginning of the year.
This August record comes after July, which had experienced an unprecedented net inflow for this month of the year, with 2,640 million euros. Since the beginning of the year, the outstanding balances of Livret A have increased by 23.6 billion euros, almost the 24.5 billion euros registered between January and August 2020, when the start of the pandemic had increased the attraction of the French for this booklet.
The Sustainable and Solidarity Development Booklet (LDDS) recorded a net collection of 780 million euros in August.
negative return
Managed jointly by the Caisse des dépôts (CDC) and the banking networks, the Livret A is mainly used to finance social housing, while the LDDS is dedicated to the social and solidarity economy, as well as energy savings in housing. The accumulated outstanding balance of the two passbooks amounts to approximately 497,000 million euros, with an increase of 5.2% in one year.
If the rise in the Livret A and LDDS rate may have encouraged the French to put their savings there, it is important to note that their yield remains negative when inflation is taken into account. The latter reached 5.9% per year in August according to INSEE. However, its rate is more advantageous than that of many funds in euros (the least risky) of life insurance.
“Given inflation and interest rates, the Livret A yield could reach 3 or even 3.2% on February 1,” said Philippe Crevel, director of Cercle de l’Epargne.
Source: BFM TV
