New Delhi, October 1: Following the completion of the second quarter of the fiscal year 2019-20, the Union government has announced the interest rate on small savings schemes including Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Account, NSC and Senior Citizen Savings Scheme. The interest rates for PPF and National Savings Certificates or NSC for the third quarter has been kept at 7.9 percent annually. The interest rates have not been changed from the second quarter and will remain to be the same from October to December.

Among the other small savings schemes, girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Account and five-year Senior Citizen Savings Scheme will continue to offer 8.4 and 8.6 percent interest rates -- compounded annually -- respectively. These two schemes have higher interest rates than several other small savings schemes. It is expected that both these schemes would offer good returns. PPF And Other Schemes Including Senior Citizens Savings Scheme Set For Interest Rate Cuts by September End.

Informing about the latest development, the Union Finance Ministry said in a statement, "On the basis of the decision of the government, interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis since 1 April 2016. Accordingly, the rates of interest of various small savings schemes for the third quarter of the financial year 2019-20 starting from 1 October 2019 and ending on 31 December 2019 shall remain unchanged from those notified for the second quarter (1st July 2019 to 30 September 2019) of financial year 2019-20."

Apart from the main schemes in small saving schemes, Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) will offer an interest rate of 7.6 percent -- compounded annually -- where the maturity period has been set as 113 months. Similar is the case with five-year Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (MIS), where the rate of interest -- calculated monthly -- would be 7.6 percent. For Post Office, term deposits for 1-3 years, the rate of interest -- calculated annually -- is 6.9 percent, while for the five-year term deposits the interest rate is 7.7 percent. Even for five-year recurring deposits, the rate of interest -- compounded yearly -- would be 7.2 percent.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 01, 2019 10:17 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).