The Popular Savings Booklet (LEP), reserved for the most modest savers, will soon see its reward drop by one point. From 1ahem February will increase from 6% to 5%, he announced Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire this Monday, January 15. “With inflation falling below 3%, you will have a favorite savings account whose reward will be more than two points higher than inflation,” he commented during his first trip since the realignment.
Inflation is expected to be below 3%, so far inflation in France remains well above this bar. INSEE measured the increase in consumer prices in France last year at an annual average of 4.9% and in December at 3.7% in one year.
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A lot of interest in LEP in recent months
Revised every six months, the LEP remuneration rate increased to 6% on 1ahem August 2023. Enough to pique the interest of millions of French people who have seen rates rise over the years. From January 2020 to January 2022, its rate was set at 1%, before crossing the 2.2% mark in February 2022 and then 4.6% in August 2022.
The result: the number of LEPs reached the 10 million mark in August 2023, according to the Banque de France, compared to 6.9 million at the end of 2021. Today, it is almost 10.7 million LEPs. The total amount outstanding peaked at 66.6 billion euros at the end of November, according to the latest Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) count.
19 million eligible people
But Banque de France still has some way to go before reaching its target of 12.5 million holders by the summer of 2024, out of around 19 million eligible people. To encourage households to open the LEP, Bruno Le Maire and François Villeroy de Galhau (Governor of the Bank of France) have increased the number of their speeches over the last two years to ensure its promotion.
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At the same time, last October, the Minister of Economy raised the LEP ceiling, from 7,700 to 10,000 euros. The decision which de facto participated in a massive inflow of deposits in the last quarter of 2023.
But you still need to meet a few criteria to benefit from it. For example, your reference taxable income cannot exceed certain ceilings (€22,419 for one family share and €82,289 for six shares). You must be over 18 to open a LEP.
“While the potential for dissemination of this brochure necessarily exists due to the lower savings capacity of the poorest households, our analysis suggests that targeted communication could increase the ownership of certain socio-demographic categories, particularly the youngest. . The attractive return on the LEP should be a real incentive to encourage eligible students or young workers to create preventive savings,” the Banque de France summarized last August in its latest report on the subject.
In addition, Minister Bruno Le Maire also confirmed that the Livret A rate will be kept at 3% between February and July. And the Sustainable and Solidary Development (LDDS) brochures also remain at 3%.