Provident Fund interest rate to be 8.5%

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Friday decided to give 8.5 per cent interest on provident fund deposits of 4.5 crore (45 million) subscribers.

The decision to recommend 8.5 per cent interest rate, the same as the last fiscal, to the Finance Ministry was taken by EPFO's Central Board of Trustees (CBT).

The CBT, the apex policy making body of EPFO, decided to retain the interest rate at the existing level at a meeting which was chaired by Union Labour Minister M Mallikarjun Kharge.

Payment of 8.5 per cent interest rate on provident fund deposits, which are of the order of Rs 1.82 crore (Rs 18.2 million), is expected to leave a surplus of Rs 6.4 crore (Rs 64 million) during the current fiscal.