Union government announces interest rates on small savings schemes

New Delhi: The Union government announced the interest rates on various small savings schemes. The government has decided to keep the interest rates  unchanged for post office savings, senior citizens saving schemes (SCSS) and public provident fund (PPF) for the new quarter beginning April 1, 2024.

‘The rates of interest on various Small Savings Schemes for the first quarter of FY 2024-25 starting from April 1, 2024 and ending on June 30, 2024 shall remain unchanged from those notified for the fourth quarter (January 1, 2024 to March 31, 2024) of FY 2023-24,’ stated an office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Finance.”

The rate of interest in the Post Office Saving Account has been left at 4 percent compounded annually, while for the PPF it is at 7.1 percent. Senior Citizen Saving Scheme interest is at 8.3 percent (paid quarterly), while for the Sukanya Samridhi Account, it has been kept at 8.2 percent.

The National Saving Certificate interest is 7.7 percent. The rate of interest in the Kisan Vikas Patra scheme is kept at 7.5 percent and for the Mahila Samman Saving Certificate also at 7.5 percent.

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Small Savings Schemes are savings instruments managed by the government to encourage citizens to save regularly. The 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.

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.

The Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) and National Savings Certificate (NSC) are some of the popular small savings schemes.