Today, the government has hiked the interest rates of small savings schemes by up to 70 bps (One percentage point is equivalent to 100 basis points.) for the April-June 2023 quarter.
The latest chart of interest for small savings instruments for the Q1 (April 1 to June 30) of 2023 is as under.
| Scheme | Rate of interest from April 1 to June 30, 2023 | Rate of interest from Jan1 to March 2023 | Interest compounded |
| Savings account | 4.00% | 4.00% | Annual rest |
| 1-year time deposit | 6.60% | 6.60% | Quarterly rest |
| 2-year’ time deposit | 6.80% | 6.80% | Quarterly rest |
| 3-year’ time deposit | 6.90% | 6.90% | Quarterly rest |
| 5-year’ time deposit | 7.00% | 7.00% | Quarterly rest |
| 5-year’ Recurring Deposit | 6.20% | 5.80% | Quarterly rest |
| 5years’ Senior Citizen Saving Scheme(SCSS) | 8.20% | 8.00% | Interest paid quarterly, Quarterly rest |
| 5- years Monthly Income Account Scheme | 7.40% | 7.10% | Interest is paid monthly, |
| 5 -years NSC | 7.70% | 7.00% | Annual rest |
| PPF (Public Provident Fund) | 7.10% | 7.10% | Annual rest |
| KVP (Kisan Vikas Patra) | 7.50 %(matures in115 months) | 7.20 %(matures120 months) | Annual rest |
| Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme | 8.00% | 7.60% | Annual rest |
The government resets the interest rate at the beginning of every quarter since 2016 based on yields of government securities of the corresponding maturity with some spread on the scheme for senior citizens, as advised by the Shyamala Gopinath Committee. The Economic Survey had earlier suggested that the interest rates on the small savings schemes be reduced to bring them in consonance with the interest rates prevailing in the economy, as the Yields on dated Government Securities (G-Secs) are continuously on the decline. The commercial banks have also been complaining that high rates of small savings schemes prohibit them from cutting deposit rates, it was expected a downward revision in interest rates for small savings schemes for the ensuing quarter, but the government preferred to keep them unchanged.
Other important news on Small savings instruments:
During the announcement of interest for the quarter of April -Jun 2018, the Ministry withdrew the earlier restrictions for credit of interest in respect of small savings to basic Savings Bank accounts. Now all the interest and maturity proceeds of small savings instruments operated by the Department of Posts may be paid to the depositors through the depositor’s savings account standing at a post office or any commercial bank, by cheque or in cash.
The PPF account rules were modified by the Government for the benefit of account holders. As per the modified PPF account holders can now make deposits in multiples of ₹50 any number of times in a financial year with a maximum of ₹1.5 lakhs a year. Earlier, a maximum of 12 deposits was permitted in a period of 1 year. Read: New rules of PPF
