Centre to cut rates of small savings schemes by 30-50 basis points, says report

The finance ministry may cut interest rates in the small savings scheme for the July to September quarter, the Business Standard reported, citing officials, adding that while it may only be for some, it could be as high as 30-50 basis point. One basis point is equivalent to one-hundredth of a percentage.

While the rates were changed for January to March quarter, with one-year, two-year and three-year time deposits aligned with each other, the rates for the April-June quarter remained unchanged.

"Reducing the cost of capital to boost investment and has been a stated aim of this administration. A part of the was done when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI's) Monetary Policy (MPC) cut interest rates thrice. Now the small savings rates will be reduced to speed up the transmission of the interest rates," a government official was quoted as saying in the report.