PPF rate cut provokes Twitterati's outburst

The government's decision to slash Public Provident Fund (PPF) rate on Friday led to a big public outcry on microblogging site Twitter.

"Bleed the ones who pay tax! This #ppf rate cut by #Modi government is so not on, Anti national!," tweeted one Vijaita Singh.

Sharing similar sentiments, another net savvy citizen Sudhanshu S. Singh tweeted, "What's this? Interest rate on PPF has been cut to 8.1%. Where should common people invest for safe earning."

Sagar Kumar Jain took a potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to vent his ire by tweeing: "Modiji has to offer something to common man, everyday!! PPF interest rate cut drastically. Difficult to see Lotus in assembly post 2019."

Some of the postings were especially directed against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

"EPF tax or PPF interest: Why is Arun Jaitley anti-common man? Being a billionaire he can't understand poverty?," went an equally angry tweet from Bharatha10.

The government on Friday cut the interest rates on small savings schemes including PPF due to low interest yield on government securities.

The interest rate has been cut to 8.1 percent from 8.7 percent in PPF and to 8.6 percent from 9.2 percent on Sukanya Samridhhi Account (SSA), a senior official of the National Savings Institute (NSI) said.

The five-year National Savings Scheme (NSS) will now fetch a return of 8.1 percent -- down from 8.5 percent.