The government has hiked interest rates of select small savings schemes for the July-September 2023 quarter by 10 to 30 bps. The two-year time deposit rate has been increased by 10 bps, while 5-year recurring deposit rate has been increased by 30 bps, a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance showed. The interest rates of schemes like the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme (SCSS), however, have been unchanged.
Rates of other schemes like Monthly Income Scheme and National Savings Scheme have also been unchanged.
Notably, the interest rates on small savings schemes are reviewed every quarter by the government.
Here are the revised rates offered by small savings schemes for July-September 2023 quarter:
| Savings Scheme | Interest rate |
| Post Office Savings Account | 4.00% |
| Post Office Recurring Deposit | 6.5% |
| Post Office Monthly Income Scheme | 7.4% |
| Post Office Time Deposit (1 year) | 6.9% |
| Post Office Time Deposit (2 year) | 7% |
| Post Office Time Deposit (3 year) | 7% |
| Post Office Time Deposit (5 year)* | 7.5% |
| Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) | 7.5% |
| Public Provident Fund (PPF) | 7.1% |
| Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana | 8% |
| National Savings Certificate | 7.7% |
| Senior Citizens’ Saving Scheme (SCSS) | 8.2% |
In the last announcement, the government hiked rates for most of the small savings interest rates by up to 70 basis points (bps) for the April-June 2023 quarter.
The PPF have been unchanged from April-June 2020, when it was cut to 7.1 percent from 7.9 percent. Prior to that, it was cut in July-September 2019. It was last raised in October-December 2018 to 8 percent from 7.6 percent.
Recently, the government has notified that just like other small savings schemes,
Mahila Samman Savings Certificate accounts can now be opened across all public sector banks and in designated private banks. The Ministry of Finance, via a gazette notification notified that the facility of investment in Mahila Samman Savings certificate will also be available in private banks like ICICI, Axis, HDFC and IDBI Bank.
Earlier in April, the Mahila Samman Savings Certificates was made available in 1.59 lakh post offices. The scheme was announced during Union Budget 2023-24 by the Finance Minister to commemorate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with an aim of financial inclusion and empowerment of the women, including the girls.
According to government data, the two-year scheme offers a fixed interest of 7.5 percent compounded quarterly with flexible investment and partial withdrawal options with a maximum ceiling of two lakh rupees.
First Published: Jun 30, 2023 5:00 PM IST
