Livret A: the Bank of France proposes to lower the rate to 2.4% on February 1

AFP/Archives – Denis CHARLET

The governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, proposed on Wednesday to lower the Livret rate to 2.4%, compared to 3% currently, and to bring that of the popular savings account (LEP), reserved for low-income households, at 3.5%, compared to 4% today.

This new rate of the Livret A, compass of French savings, “will make it possible to amplify the very positive movement of recovery of 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 effect on February 1.

He This is the first drop in the Livret A rate since the beginning of 2020, when the rate went from 0.75% to 0.50%. We have to go back to 2009 to find a drop of greater magnitude, greater than 0 ,6 percentage points.

The reduction in the Livret A interest rate, which also applies to the Livret de développement durable et solidaire (LDDS), is bad news for the 57 million holders of a “little red booklet”.

However, it offers a breath of fresh air to the players who pay it: banking institutions and the Caisse des dépôts (CDC), which Éric  

The Banque de France is proposing to lower the Livret A interest rate to 2.4% on February 1st 

Lombard headed until his appointment as minister at the end of December.

The sums deposited in Livret A and LDDS are 59.5% managed by the CDC and intended mainly for financing social housing.

Livret A and LDDS savings accounts 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.

While 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 proposed rate 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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