Financial Repression Tracker

Rules that steer savings into government debt or hold returns below inflation, country by country.

Steer · Captive demand

Mandatory deposits with the Treasury ('circuit du Trésor')

What it is
Arrangements under which public and para-public bodies, postal giro systems and other 'Treasury correspondents' must keep their liquid funds on deposit with the Treasury itself, so that deposit growth in the system automatically finances the state.
Why it counts
Money held in captive deposit circuits becomes zero- or low-cost sight borrowing for the Treasury, covering deficits 'automatically' without market issuance or central-bank advances.

When it was in force

  • France: 1944 → 1965, historical; its end is not documented
  • France: 1995 → 1997, historical; the rule may be older than the cited document; its end is not documented
  • Italy: 1984 → now, in force

3 examples

  1. France

    1944 → 1965Historical

    Its end is not documented · As cited: 1944 to mid-1960s; dismantled progressively from the 1960s

    Sociologist Benjamin Lemoine describes how the Treasury correspondents' deposits gave the Treasury 'spontaneous resources' from 1944 to the mid-1960s, so that monetary growth automatically enlarged Treasury resources and made bond issuance secondary.

    The 'circuit du Trésor': deposits of the 'correspondants du Trésor' (Caisse des dépôts, savings banks, Crédit agricole, specialised lenders, and public bodies and local authorities whose cash was legally managed by the State)Secondary source
    “plus la masse monétaire augmente, plus les correspondants du Trésor ont potentiellement de liquidités à déposer au Trésor, et plus le Trésor dispose de ressources”

    laviedesidees.fr (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    France today: index 54.6

  2. France

    1995 → 1997Historical

    The rule may be older than the cited document · Its end is not documented · As cited: 1995-1997 (plan contract described)

    Balances on postal cheque accounts were deposited with the Treasury, with La Poste paid a formula rate (13-week BTF minus 0.4%, floored at 4.75% and capped at 6.5%).

    Contrat de plan État-La Poste 1995-1997: remuneration of postal current account (CCP) funds deposited with the TreasuryPrimary source
    “Le contrat de plan entre l'Etat et la Poste pour 1995-1997 a prévu que la rémunération des fonds des CCP déposés au Trésor serait fixée par référence au taux du marché.”

    senat.fr (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    France today: index 54.6

  3. Italy

    1984 → nowIn force

    As cited: 1984-present (as amended)

    Public bodies listed in Table A must hold their own revenues in interest-bearing special accounts, and other revenues (including loan proceeds) in non-interest-bearing accounts, at the provincial sections of the State treasury.

    Legge 29 ottobre 1984, n. 720, Istituzione del sistema di tesoreria unica per enti ed organismi pubblici, art. 1Primary source
    “devono essere versate in contabilità speciale fruttifera presso le sezioni di tesoreria provinciale dello Stato. Le altre entrate, comprese quelle provenienti da mutui, devono affluire in contabilità speciale infruttifera”

    normattiva.it (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote confirmed on the page by a reviewing agent

    Italy today: index 49.2

Examples and their dates reviewed .

Further reading

12 more on captive demand