Interest Rates of Small Saving Schemes lowered

The Central government has reduced the prevailing interest rates in several saving schemes as per a notification issued on 28^th June 2019.

Which Schemes have changed?

• The schemes for which the interests have been lowered are the five-year Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, the five-year National Savings Certificate, Public Provident Fund, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and the Kisan Vikas Patra scheme.
• The Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS) is a government-backed savings instrument offered to senior Indian citizens aged over 60 years.
• The National Savings Certificate is a Government of India backed savings bond that encourages small to mid-income investors to invest while saving on income tax.
• A PPF or Public Provident Fund is a savings scheme offered by the Government of India which also pays the interest on the account. The interest is set every quarter.
• The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is a government-backed savings scheme for the of the girl child. Part of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana , It can be opened by the parents of a girl child below the age of 10. Parents can open up to two such accounts for girls who have a tenure of 21 years or until the girl child marries after the age of 18.
• The Kisan Vikas Patra is a saving certificate scheme initially launched in 1988 by the India Post but was closed in 2011 on the recommendations of the Shyamala Gopinath committee. It was, however, re-launched it in 2014.

Salient Feature

These savings schemes allow the middle class the poor citizens of India to gain a valuable return on their investment made. However, even in light of the reductions, the rate of return offered by these schemes remain attractive.