Interest Rates On Small Savings Schemes Kept Unchanged For Sixth Straight Quarter

New Delhi: The government on Thursday kept interest rates of small savings schemes -- Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), others -- unchanged for the October-December quarter. The Finance Ministry has decided not to tinker with the rates for the sixth straight quarter.

"The rate of interest on various small savings schemes for the third quarter (Q3) of financial year 2021-22 starting from October 1, 2021 and ending on December 1, 2021 shall remain unchanged from the current rates applicable for the second quarter (Q2) of FY 2021-22," a notification from the Ministry read.

This notification implies that those who have invested in the Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and other savings schemes will continue to earn the same interest rate as they were earning during the quarter ending September 30, 2021.

The small savings schemes' interest rates are notified on a quarterly basis. Currently, India Post or Department of Posts, that runs postal services, offers nine types of small saving schemes.

Popular post office schemes such as Public Provident Fund, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and Kisan Vikas Patra currently fetch 7.1%, 7.6% and 6.9% interest respectively.

Of the other small schemes, savings deposits earn the lowest interest rate of 4%; followed by 1-year, 2-year, 3-year and 5-year time deposits that currently attract 5.5%. While, 5-year time deposit gets an interest of 6.7%

5-year recurring deposit collects an interest of 5.8%. 5-year Senior Citizen Savings Scheme currently offers a rate of 7.4%.

5-year Monthly Income Account and 5-year National Savings Certificate earn a rate of 6.6% and 6.8% respectively.

The mentioned scheme are recognized by the government and carry the least risk among other available investment options.