2023-06-25 10:51:49
Never has the Banque de France been so present in the lives of French people. The institution, more than two hundred years old, born under Napoleon Bonaparte, logically burst into their daily lives at the end of 2020 with the return of galloping inflation. More than 5% increase, on average, in 2022. Unheard of since 1985.
Guardian of price stability, the one that is also called the Central Bank then came into action. “One of our main missions is to ensure that the euros you have in your pocket do not lose value,” summarizes Olivier Garnier, director general, statistics, economic and international studies at the Banque de France.
How ? By participating, with the nineteen other central banks of the euro zone, in the construction of the monetary policy implemented by the European Central Bank (ECB) based in Frankfurt, Germany.
“Explain what we are doing”
Thus, since July 2022, the key rates, that is to say the interest rates that the European central banks apply to commercial banks, such as BNP or Société Générale, which wish to borrow or invest money from it , rose from –0.5% to +3.25%. Objective, to stem the rise in prices by making money more expensive without suffocating the economy.
A delicate exercise, especially since it generally takes between twelve and eighteen months before the decisions of the ECB produce their effects. “That’s why communication is very important, insists Olivier Garnier. To explain what we are doing. »
François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France. LP/Philippe Lavieille
And in this exercise, the 31st Governor of the Banque de France excels. All in good humor, accessible, François Villeroy de Galhau, 64-year-old polytechnician, appointed in 2015, multiplies passages in the media. Sometimes to reassure companies, sometimes to educate individuals. To the point of having become THE face of the fight against inflation, like Jérôme Salomon, former Director General of Health, in his time, was that of the fight against the coronavirus at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Identifying a weakness in contactless payment via a smartphone”
However, with its 9,000 employees, scattered throughout the national territory, the Banque de France takes on a multitude of faces. Custodian of the 2,436 tons of gold of the French State, repairer of damaged banknotes, controller of false cuts, or even support for over-indebted people, and calculation of the rate of remuneration of regulated savings accounts such as the Livret A. It is also she who determines the wear rate taken into account for mortgages.
The Banque de France is also responsible for printing banknotes in its factory in Chamalières (Puy-de-Dôme). The institution ensures the smooth circulation of cash while ensuring the security of cashless means of payment. Its mission: that the tools put on the market by banks or payment institutions meet reliability and security requirements.
Banknotes on display in the safe room. LP/Philippe Lavieille
“For example, we have identified a weakness in contactless payment via a smartphone, says Julien Lasalle, assistant to the director of studies and payment monitoring. Not all players required strong authentication when enrolling the card on the phone. »
“Post-quantum technologies that would resist ultra-powerful computer attacks”
More surprisingly, not far from the Hôtel de Toulouse, a beautiful 17th century Parisian residence where the Banque de France set up its headquarters two hundred years ago, the institution has moved into modern offices, in start-up mode , its innovation laboratory to reinvent the Central Bank.
The Banque de France Lab, the institution’s innovation laboratory. LP/Philippe Lavieille
“We are working on artificial intelligence, on post-quantum technologies that would resist ultra-powerful attacks from quantum computers,” explains Thierry Bedoin, general manager of the information system.
And as a symbol of this openness to its century, for the first time, it is with a photo of the headquarters, the doors open, that the Banque de France illustrates the cover of its 2022 activity report.
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