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🇫🇷 France /Elections & Politics

Savings: The number of LEPs increases slowly, objective 'met' according to the Banque de France

From Le Figaro · () French

Translated from French, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • France's Banque de France considers its goal of 12.5 million Livret d'épargne populaire (LEP) accounts filled, with 12.3 million open as of April.
  • The LEP, a popular savings account with income restrictions, saw its numbers dwindle to 6.9 million in 2021 before recovering.
  • Despite the recovery, the number of potential eligible households remains significantly higher than the current LEP account holders.

The Banque de France believes it has achieved its objective for the Livret d'épargne populaire (LEP), a popular savings account with income restrictions. As of April, 12.3 million LEP accounts were open, nearing the target of 12.5 million set by former governor François Villeroy de Galhau for the summer of 2024.

The policy to support the LEP has borne fruit.

— Emmanuel MoulinCommenting on the success of the Banque de France's strategy for the LEP.

"The policy to support the LEP has borne fruit," stated current governor Emmanuel Moulin, highlighting the success of measures implemented to boost the account's popularity. The LEP experienced a significant decline, falling from a peak of 13.2 million accounts in 2008 to just 6.9 million in 2021. However, it has since seen a steady recovery.

While the target is nearly met, Moulin indicated that further aggressive promotion of the LEP might not be necessary at this time. The number of LEP accounts has seen a slight increase this year, growing from 12.1 million at the end of December to 12.3 million by the end of April. However, the annual review by banks to close accounts for those no longer meeting eligibility criteria could reduce the total by as many as 200,000, potentially returning the number to its starting point.

We are almost there, so I think today the objective is met.

— Emmanuel MoulinStating that the target number of LEP accounts has been achieved.

Banks' participation in promoting the LEP has been somewhat subdued, with the product not always prominently featured on their platforms. The current volume of accounts also remains considerably lower than the estimated 19 million households identified by the Banque de France as potential customers due to their limited savings capacity, and even further from the 31 million individuals deemed eligible. The LEP, which is free, tax-exempt, and liquid, currently offers the best guaranteed return among savings products, although its rate has halved from 5% to 2.5% over the past two years. As of May, LEP accounts held a total of 83.6 billion euros.

I don't think it is desirable today, that it is still necessary, to 'boost' the LEPs as we have done until now.

— Emmanuel MoulinSuggesting that aggressive promotion of the LEP may no longer be needed.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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