Interest rate on Post Office FDs increased

The government has decided to hike interest rates on fixed deposit schemes offered by post offices by up to 0.2 per cent. An official release said that new interest rates on small savings schemes will come into effect from 1st April.

The rates apply to post office saving schemes and the return on 1-2 years deposits has been hiked by 20 basis points from 8.2 percent to 8.4 percent. The deposits on 3-year maturities have been raised from 8.3 percent to 8.4 percent while for 5-year deposits, it has been raised to 8.5 percent. The rates have been left unchanged for National Savings Certificate, NSCs, Monthly Income Schemes, MIS and Public Provident Fund, PPF.

The rates hikes are as per an earlier policy decision to align small savings rates with the yield on government securities. Small saving schemes provide safe attractive investment options to public and mobalise resources for development. These schemes are operated by post offices through out the country.