Savings: Will the state draw in your booklet A to finance the defense?

The words of the Minister of Economy on the mobilization of private savings to finance the defense effort aroused a wave of concern among the French. But should we really fear a puncture on their savings booklets?

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– Puncture the savings of the French, a myth or a possibility?

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Panic wind among savers. The idea of mobilizing their precious woolen stockings to finance the defense sector triggers a shield lifting: according to an Odoxa for Capital survey, 58% of French people do not want us to use their savings to finance this sector. It is enough, to have the illustration of it, to see the reactions aroused by the recent words of the Minister of the Economy, Eric Lombard. During the question session of the government on Wednesday, March 12, the tenant of Bercy announced that he wanted “Mobilize private savings (of the French) to finance our defense effort which will increase”.

It was not necessary to provoke the anxiety of savers, who, in particular on social networks, immediately worried about an imminent state puncture on their savings booklets, their booklet has in mind, placement of which they are most provided (57 million holders). So much so that the Minister of the Economy had to defuse the subject this Friday, March 14 in the Télématin program, assuring that “The French will do what they want to save”and that those who wish only can “Invest in our war economy.”

Furniture savings does not mean “puncture”

Exit therefore the idea of constraining the French to enclose part of their economies towards a particular sector. But even if the government wanted to mobilize “by force” the savings of individuals, would it only have the possibility? For Philippe Crevel, director of the circle of savings, “There is an amalgamation between the idea of” mobilizing “the savings of the French, that is to say to allow those who wish to invest in our defense, and that of” puncture “, which suggests that the State could” use “in their accounts with impunity”.

In this case, a government has no legal means to puncture the savings of the French: “The only possibility of taking part of the income is via tax, but the right to deire tax always rests on the agreement of the Parliament, and the case law wants this taxation cannot be excessive or confiscory”adds the expert. In reality, it would seem that part of the confusion and fear of savers comes from a misinterpretation of the Sapin 2 law.

Adopted in 2016, the latter provides that in case of systemic risk, such as bank panic or (“Bank Run”), the High Council for Financial Stability (HCSF) can impose a freeze on withdrawal from life insurance contracts for a period of three months renewable. “But this is the opposite of a confiscation measure, the objective is on the contrary the preservation of savings: in the event of a crisis, withdrawals would be temporarily frozen to avoid panic, but the capital is never taken”recalls Philippe Crevel.