This good news for some 55 million Livret A holders, announced in mid-January, does not erase the fact that with a price increase recorded at 6% over one year in January, the net return is strongly negative.
Nevertheless, no other product offers such a level of interest rate while guaranteeing the capital and being completely liquid, that is to say with the possibility of withdrawing its funds at any time.
Less well known than its predecessor, the Sustainable and Solidarity Development Booklet (LDDS) also benefits from this 3% increase.
A saver with 10,000 euros on one of these two products will now earn 300 euros in a full year, against 200 euros previously.
If the calculation formula, taking into account on the one hand the rise in prices and on the other hand the interbank rates, at which the banks exchange short-term money, had been applied to the letter, the rate would have even been increased to 3.3%.
But the governor of the central bank François Villeroy de Galhau preferred to round slightly downwards, citing in a press release "exceptional circumstances".
Still at its lowest level of 0.5% in January 2022, the Livret A rate had already doubled for the first time on February 1, 2022 and then again on August 1.
The rate of the Popular Savings Book, reserved for people with modest incomes (maximum 21,393 euros per year for a single person), goes from 4.6% to 6.1%.
© 2023 AFP