Finance Ministry has approved interest rate at 8.5 per cent for over six crore subscribers of Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
This interest rate is for fiscal year 2019-20. A senior labour ministry official confirmed the approval from Finance Ministry. Now, interest is expected to be credited in one-go soon. In March, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) under the chairmanship of Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar had agreed for bringing down the rate of interest to 8.5 per cent for FY 2019-20 from 8.65 per cent for 8.65 per cent of FY 2018-19.
Later it was decided to credit it into two parts, 8.15 per cent initial and 0.35 per cent later. The EPFO had earlier planned to liquidate some of its investment in exchange traded funds to meet the deficit for providing 8.5 per cent interest for the last fiscal. However, it could not do so because of the choppy market conditions amid lockdown induced by Covid-19.