'Was an oversight': Govt drops reduction in interest rates on small savings

Government had announced a cut in small savings rates by 50-100 basis points for the first quarter of the new financial year.

In the fastest rollback so far, the Union government on Thursday morning reversed the move to lower interest rates on small savings schemes such as the public provident fund (PPF). Restoring the rates through a Twitter message, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman called the previous evening’s announcement an “oversight”.     

“Interest rates of small savings schemes of GoI (Government of India) shall continue to be at the rates which existed in the last quarter of 2020-2021, ie, rates that prevailed as of March 2021. Orders issued by oversight shall be withdrawn,” she said. This came about 12 hours after the