The government has left interest rate for the Public Provident Fund scheme unchanged for the April-June period of 2023. Consequently, PPF account holders will earn 7.1% interest on their PPF savings for this period.
The ministry of finance on March 31, 2023, raised the interest rate by up to 70 basis points on some other small savings schemes for the quarter beginning April 1, 2023.
“The ministry has raised the interest rate by up to 70 basis points (one percentage point is equivalent to 100 bps) on some small savings schemes for the quarter beginning 1 April,” the ministry said in a statement released on March 31, 2023.
PPF interest rates have thus been left unchanged for the 12th quarter in a row even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the repo rate to 6.50% in its February 2023 monetary policy review. PPF interest is calculated keeping in the account the minimum balance from the 5th to last date of a month. This means that if a PPF account holder deposits money in his account on or before the 4th of a month, he will be able to earn PPF interest of that month as well.
Govt hikes interest rates on most small saving schemes for June quarter
The finance ministry has increased the interest rate for senior citizens savings scheme to 8.2% from 8%, rate for Kisan Vikas Patra has been hiked to 7.5% from 7.2%. The interest rate for National Savings Certificates has increased from 7% to 7.5%. The interest rate for Sukanya Samriddhi programme is increased from 7.6% to 8%.
Interest on govt-backed small savings account scheme
With effect from April 1, 2023, to June 30, 2023
| Instrument | Interest rate from Jan 1 to March 31, 2023 | Interest rate from April 1 to June 30, 2023 |
| Savings deposit | 4% | 4% |
| 1-year deposit | 6.6% | 6.8% |
| 2-year deposit | 6.8% | 6.9% |
| 3-year deposit | 6.9% | 7% |
| 5-year deposit | 5.8% | 6.2% |
| Senior Citizen Savings Scheme | 8% | 8.2% |
| Monthly Income Account Scheme | 7.1% | 7.4% |
| National Savings Certificate | 7% | 7.7% |
| PPF | 7.1% | 7.1% |
| Kisan Vikas Patra | 7.2% (to mature in 120 months) | 7.5% (to mature in 115 months) |
| Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme | 7.6% | 8% |
Source: Finance ministry
| Got any questions or point of view on our article? We would love to hear from you.
Write to our Editor-in-Chief Jhumur Ghosh at jhumur.ghosh1@housing.com |
