Orders issued by oversight, FM Sitharaman withdraws cut in interest on small savings, Twitterati responds

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced government decision to withdraw orders on reduction of interest rate on small savings schemes. The FM assured that the rates to the last quarter of the financial year ended March 31 will be restored.

"Interest rates of small savings schemes of GoI 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 Orders issued by oversight shall be withdrawn," Sitharaman said in an early morning tweet.

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday had reduced interest rate by up to 1.1 per cent across various small savings schemes including National Savings Certificates (NSC) and Public Provident Fund (PPF). The steepest fall of 1.1 per cent was effected in the one-year term deposit. The new rate was brought down to 4.4 per cent as compared to 5.5 per cent.  Interest rate on Public Provident Fund (PPF) was reduced by 0.7 per cent to 6.4 per cent while National Savings Certificate (NSC) was to earn 0.9 per cent less at 5.9 percent.

While some people in the social media have appreciated the roll-back in interest rate reduction withdrawal, some Twitterati doesn’t seem to take an affable view.

Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis. Once restored, PPF and NSC will carry an annual interest rate of 7.1 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively.

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