In a positive development for investors in small savings schemes, the government has announced an increase in interest rates for the second quarter.
Effective from July to September, the interest rates for these schemes have been raised by 10-30 basis points (bps).
Notably, certain popular schemes like the Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC),
Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) will not see any changes in their interest rates this time.
Was this Change Expected?
During the first quarter of the ongoing financial year (April-June 2023), only one small savings scheme witnessed an alteration in its interest rate.
The government increased the interest rate for the 5-year National Savings Certificate (NSC) by 0.70 percent, bringing it up to 7.7 percent.
This marked the third consecutive quarter of interest rate hikes for small savings schemes.
Prior to this adjustment, the highest interest rate of 8.2 percent was applicable to the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS).
