With Latest Interest Rate Hike, EPF Now Offers More Than Any Small Savings Scheme

The EPFO has hiked interest rate on employees’ provident fund (EPF) to a three-year high of 8.25 per cent for 2023-24, against 8.15 per cent earlier. The interest rate is now higher as compared to small savings schemes like PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and post office deposits, which offer up to 8.2 per cent annually. Here are the small savings schemes and their interest rates.

The interest rates on small savings schemes, including public provident fund (PPF), national savings certificate (NSC) and Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), are reviewed every quarter.

Latest Interest Rates On Small Savings Schemes:

The interest rates for the January-March 2024 quarter have been fixed as follows:

Savings Deposit: 4 per cent

1-Year Post Office Time Deposits: 6.9 per cent

2-Year Post Office Time Deposits: 7.0 per cent

3-Year Post Office Time Deposits: 7.1 per cent (7.0 per cent earlier)

5-Year Post Office Time Deposits: 7.5 per cent

5-Year Recurring Deposits: 6.7 per cent

National Saving Certificates (NSC): 7.7 per cent

Kisan Vikas Patra: 7.5 per cent (will mature in 115 months)

Public Provident Fund: 7.1 per cent

Sukanya Samriddhi Account: 8.2 per cent (8.0 per cent earlier)

Senior Citizens Savings Scheme: 8.2 per cent

Monthly Income Account: 7.4 per cent.

Small savings schemes have three categories — savings deposits, social security schemes and monthly income plan.

Saving deposits include 1-3-year time deposits and 5-year recurring deposits. These also include saving certificates such as National Saving Certificates (NSC) and Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP). Social security schemes include Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Account and Senior Citizens Savings Scheme. The monthly income plan includes the Monthly Income Account.

For the October-December 2023 quarter, the government had kept the interest rates unchanged on small savings schemes, including PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi, Senior Citizens Savings Schemes and post office time deposits, for October-December 2023. Only 5-year recurring deposits saw a hike in interest rate by 20 basis points to 6.7 per cent.

Interest rates on small savings schemes like PPF, NSC, etc, are now market-linked and moves in tandem with 10-year G-Sec yield.