NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday left interest rates unchanged for small savings schemes, such as public provident fund (
PPF
), national savings certificate and others, for the eighth quarter in a row (April-June, 2022-23) bringing relief for middle class investors battling price pressures and a surge in fuel prices.
The rates are set quarterly. The five-year post office deposit scheme will continue to offer a 6.7% rate, while PPF will give 7.1% return. Returns on small savings are comparatively higher against the backdrop of the low interest rate regime overall. The senior citizens’ savings will also continue to have a rate of 7.4% and the
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
will get a return of 7.6%. The last round of sharp rate cuts unveiled in April last year had to be rolled back due to protests from investors.
The rate cuts came in the midst of the
West Bengal
elections and the government promptly reversed the decision and decided to maintain a status quo. The concerns over price rise and stubborn petrol and diesel prices had prompted the government to reverse the decision. “We expect a shallow rate hike cycle to commence in mid-2022,” said
Aditi Nayar
, chief economist at ratings agency
ICRA
.