Facing a severe social media backlash over the interest rate cuts in small savings schemes like the Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, senior citizen savings scheme, current deposit, and a host of other such schemes on March 31, the finance ministry has rolled back the decision.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in an early morning tweet: "Interest rates of small savings schemes of 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 Orders issued by oversight shall be withdrawn."
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.
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) April 1, 2021
Orders issued by oversight shall be withdrawn. @FinMinIndia@PIB_India
The government on Wednesday reduced the interest on the PPF scheme to 6.4 per cent for the April-June quarter from 7.1 per cent in the January-March period.
The interest rate on the National Savings Certificate (NSC) was also slashed to 5.9 per cent from 6.8 per cent, while that for Sukanya Samriddhi Account scheme was cut to 6.9 per cent from 7.6 per cent earlier.
In a circular on Wednesday (March 31), the Finance Ministry announced a cut in interest rates for small savings schemes for the first quarter of the financial year 2021-22. The rate cuts are in the range of 50 basis points (bps) to 110 bps. The Finance Ministry notifies the interest rates for small savings schemes on a quarterly basis.