Small savings schemes: Govt keeps interest rates unchanged for Jan-Mar qrt

The government on Tuesday kept the interest rates on small savings schemes, including NSC and PPF, unchanged for the fourth quarter of 2019-20 despite moderating bank deposit rates.

Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Savings Certificate (NSC) will continue to carry an annual interest rate of 7.9 per cent, while Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) will give a yield of 7.6 per cent and mature in 113 months.

Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis.

"The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2019-20 starting January 1, 2020, and ending on March 31, 2020, shall remain unchanged from those notified for the third quarter of the financial year 2019-20," the finance ministry said in a notification.

The interest rate for the five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been retained at 8.6 per cent. The interest on the senior citizens' scheme is paid quarterly. Interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 per cent annually.

The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account will offer 8.4 per cent rate during the first quarter of the next fiscal.

Term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch interest rate in the range of 6.9-7.7 per cent, to be paid quarterly, while the five-year recurring deposit is pegged at 7.2 per cent.

While announcing the quarterly setting of interest rates in 2016, the finance ministry had said that rates of small savings schemes would be linked to government bond yields.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) earlier this month had also kept interest rates static on inflationary concerns.