Retirement fund body EPFO on Thursday lowered interest rate on provident fund deposits to a seven-year low of 8.5 per cent for the current financial year.
The the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had provided 8.65 per cent rate of interest on EPF for 2018-19 to its around six crore subscribers. The decision was taken at a meeting of the the EPFO's apex decision making body -- the Central Board of Trustee (CBT).
"The EPFO has decided to provide 8.5 per cent interest rate on EPF deposits for 2019-20 in the CBT meeting today," Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said here after the meeting.
The minister also said that the EPFO will have a surplus of over Rs 700 crore on providing 8.5 per cent rate of interest on EPF for this fiscal.
A ministry source said, "The EPFO would have left with a surplus of over Rs 300 crore if it had provided 8.55 per cent rate of interest on EPF for this fiscal. There would have been a deficit if the EPFO had provided a rate of more than 8.55 per cent for current fiscal."
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