Govt keeps interest rates for small savings schemes unchanged for Apr-Jun, 2022

The government has decided to keep the interest rates for small savings schemes, comprising Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), and others, unchanged for the first quarter of financial year 2022-23.

The interest rate has not been revised since the first quarter of 2020-21.

"The rate of interest on various small savings schemes for the first quarter of financial year 2022-23 starting from April 1, 2022 and ending on June 30, 2022 shall remain unchanged from the current rates applicable for the fourth quarter of FY 2021-22," the Ministry of Finance said in a notification.

PPF and National Savings Certificate (NSC) will continue to carry an annual interest rate of 7.1 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively, in the first quarter.

The one-year term deposit scheme will continue to earn an interest rate of 5.5 per cent in the first quarter of the next fiscal, while the girl child savings scheme SSY will earn 7.6 per cent interest.

The interest rate on five-year senior citizens' savings scheme will be retained at 7.4 per cent. The interest on senior citizens' scheme is paid quarterly.

The interest rate on savings deposits will continue to be 4 per cent per annum.

Term deposits of one to five years will fetch an interest in the range of 5.5-6.7 per cent, to be paid quarterly, while five-year recurring deposits will earn a higher interest of 5.8 per cent.

Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis.

Earlier this month, the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) had slashed the interest on provident fund deposits for 2021-22 to more than a four-decade low of 8.1 per cent.

In Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the proposed 8.1 per cent interest rate for EPF is better than interest rates offered by other small savings schemes, and the revision is dictated by the realties of the current times.

(With PTI inputs)