After having achieved a yield not seen for nearly forty years, the LEP interest rate will gradually fall with the expected decline in inflation. For eligible individuals, however, there is still a little time to take advantage of it.
The end of a golden age? Since February 1st, the return on the Livret d’épargne populaire (LEP) has peaked at 6.1%. This interest rate, directly indexed to inflation, benefited from the peak in price increases observed in the second half of 2022 (+6.06%). Since then, inflation has slowed to around 5.6% over the past six months, pending the formalisation of the June figure by INSEE. This deceleration in the rise in prices will therefore automatically lead to a drop in the LEP interest rate, which should logically be reduced to 5.6% from 1st August .
However, until that date, LEP remuneration remains above the current level of the cost of living. Beyond simply sheltering your savings from price increases, you can even earn more than inflation costs you. But is it still possible to take the bandwagon? Yes, provided you hurry.
Until July 15 to take advantage of the 6.1% rate
Indeed, as the Banque de France website reminds us, “the calculation of interest [of the LEP] is done every fortnight”, as is the case for other regulated bank books, including the Livret A. This means that the interest rate of 6.1%, effective until August 1, will be used to calculate the remuneration for funds deposited up to two weeks earlier. That brings us to the Saturday July 15th deadline. After this date, the savings paid in will begin to generate interest when the rate has dropped.
But how much can you actually earn in that time? Of course, not very much. In a fortnight, a LEP filled to the ceiling of 7,700 euros brings in 19.57 euros. The real bargain will be for savers who took advantage, from February 1 to August 1, of the 6.1% rate with a saturated LEP. They will pocket 234.85 euros at the end of the year, to which must be added the interest calculated at the new rate over the second half of 2023.
Until 1st February 2024 for a rate close to 5.6%
Provided it gets close to the ceiling, the LEP will however remain attractive even if the rate is lowered to 5.6%. Indeed, it is necessary to go back to the period from the 16th May 1986 to the 28th February 1996 to find an LEP yield of 5.5%. From August 1st to December 31st, 2023, an LEP at 7,700 euros can still yield 179.67 euros at 5.6%. All is therefore not lost if you miss the July 15th check mark, and, above all, if you have not yet opened your LEP.
If so, you are far from alone. The Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau recently confirmed that nearly 10 million French people do not yet have LEP, although their level of resources would allow it (the annual income ceiling is 21,393 euros for a single person). Indeed, despite the 19 million eligible French people, there are only 9.5 million LEPs at present. However, their number has recently increased: “we were at less than 7 million LEPs opened 18 months ago”, indicated François Villeroy de Galhau on July 11th on France Info.
On this occasion, the Governor of the Banque de France invited low-income savers who have not yet opened their LEP to contact their bank adviser. To take advantage of a tax-free return and higher than that of the Livret A (currently at 3%), it is not necessary to delay. With an inflation rate which should drop to 2.2% at the end of the year, and to 2% in 2025, according to the forecast of the Banque de France, the LEP is likely to soon find a less dazzling remuneration.
