The government has not made any change in the interest rates of all small savings schemes for the July-September quarter (Q2FY25). The Finance Ministry has given this information by issuing a notification on Friday (28 June). Earlier, no change was made in the interest rates of all small savings schemes for the April-June quarter (Q1FY25). The Finance Ministry said in the notification that the interest rates of small savings schemes for the second quarter of the financial year 2024-25 starting from 1 July 2024 and ending on 30 September 2024 will remain unchanged from the rates notified for the first quarter of FY 2024-25 (from 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024). Public Provident Fund will continue to get 7.1% interest rate This means that for the July-September 2024-25 quarter, 7.1% interest rate will continue to be available on Public Provident Fund (PPF) and 8.2% interest rate on Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. The government also keeps an eye on the country’s liquidity situation and inflation before taking a decision on the interest rates of small savings schemes. However, the interest rates on small savings schemes including PPF, NSC and KVP are reviewed every quarter. Interest rates on small savings schemes range from 4% to 8.2%. Interest rates were last changed in December The government had announced the interest rates of small savings schemes for the January-March 2024 quarter on 29 December. Then Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana was increased by 0.20% and 3-year time deposit rates by 0.10%. At the same time, the rates of other schemes were not changed. Earlier, the government had increased the rates on RD by 0.20% for October-December. The interest rate of Sukanya scheme was earlier 8% and the interest rate of three-year time deposit was 7%. This was the sixth consecutive quarter when the rates of these schemes were increased. The Finance Ministry did not change the interest rates of small savings schemes for nine consecutive quarters. After this, it started increasing it from October-December 2022. SSY scheme was launched on 22 January 2015 Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015 as a part of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyan. This scheme is to meet the expenses of daughter’s education and marriage. The daughter should be less than 10 years old. Only one account is allowed for a daughter. A family can open only two SSY accounts. SSY account can be opened offline by visiting a bank or post office. The minimum investment in this is ₹250 per year. The maximum investment is ₹1,50,000 per year. The maturity period is 21 years. For this, the daughter’s birth certificate, photo ID of parents or legal guardian and address proof will have to be given. Interest rates are reviewed every quarter The interest rates of small savings schemes are reviewed every quarter. The formula for fixing their interest rates was given by the Shyamala Gopinath Committee. The committee suggested that the interest rates of these schemes should be 0.25-1.00% higher than the yield of government bonds of similar maturity. These schemes are the major source of household savings Small savings schemes are the major source of household savings in India and include 12 instruments. In these schemes, depositors get fixed interest on their money. The collection from all small savings schemes is deposited in the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF). Small savings schemes have emerged as a source of financing the government deficit. Classification Small savings instruments can be classified into three categories:
