Investing in small savings schemes is a safe way to save money. The government sets the interest rates for these schemes every three months.
As the current financial year is ending and a new one is starting, the government has decided to keep the interest rates unchanged for the first quarter of the upcoming financial year, which is from April to June.
This means that customers will continue to receive a 7.1 percent interest rate on the Public Provident Fund (PPF).
Here are the interest rates for various small savings schemes
Post Office Savings Account: 4 percent
Post Office Time Deposit Scheme: 6.9 percent to 7.5 percent
Recurring Deposit (RD) Scheme: 6.7 percent
Senior Citizen Saving Scheme (SCSS): 8.2 percent
Monthly Income Scheme (MIS): 6.4 percent
National Savings Certificate (NSC): 7.7 percent
Public Provident Fund (PPF): 7.1 percent
Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP): 7.5 percent
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY): 8.2 percent
If you have investments in PPF or Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, make sure to deposit the minimum balance in both accounts before March 31st.
Failing to do so will lead to your account being deactivated and can only be reopened after paying a penalty.
You can invest between Rs 500 to Rs 1.50 lakh annually in the Public Provident Fund Scheme and between Rs 250 to Rs 1.50 lakh in the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana scheme.
Investing in both schemes allows you to get a maximum tax exemption of up to Rs 1.50 lakh under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.
