The morale of the French is degraded, and continues to fall in February. According to the latest monthly study from INSEE, the period is almost comparable to that of the summer of 2013, when France was barely emerging from the recession. Indeed, while the synthetic indicator that reflects their confidence only loses one point (to 82), it remains well below its long-term average (peaking at 100 between January 1987 and December 2022).
According to the Institute, in February, households retain a very negative opinion on the past and future evolution of the standard of living in the country. They are also few in number to consider that it is appropriate to make major purchases (cars and major household appliances mainly), which is a bad signal for consumption. And indeed for French growth. Especially since the French do not seem to be very confident for the future. According to INSEE, “the share of households believing that prices will accelerate over the next twelve months is still increasing slightly”.
A desire to save at the highest level
Faced with inflation and its share of unknowns, many French people believe that it is wise to save in order to build up a little woolen sock in the event of an even more lasting crisis. “The corresponding balance of opinion, at its highest since May 2021, has gained seven points, after an increase of eight points in January”, underlines INSEE.
Households’ balance of opinion on their future saving capacity has fallen by one point, while that on their current saving capacity is stable. These two balances remain above their long-term average. This new surge is “probably linked to the rise in the rates of certain savings products”, explains the Institute, without however providing further details.
Some economists nevertheless forge a link with the livret A, which experienced a historic collection at the start of the year, in particular thanks to a rate of remuneration raised to 3% at the beginning of February, against 0.5% a year ago. The collection of this savings exceeded nine billion euros in January, an amount not seen since 2009. “The collection of the Livret A and the Livret de développement durable et solidaire for the month of January 2023 is positive with +11, 22 billion euros for all the networks”, indicated the Caisse des dépôts in a press release.
Savings have been so buoyant in recent weeks that to better take advantage of the 3% rate of pay, some French people have tried to open several savings accounts at the same time. An illegal practice in France. Faced with abuse, the tax authorities would have planned to intensify checks on duplicate accounts, the newspaper indicates. The Telegram.