EPFO Fixes A Higher Interest Rate Of 8.65% For 2018-19
Another proposal to hike minimum pension for subscribers from the current Rs 1,000 will be discussed at a meeting in March.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has finalised an interest rate of 8.65 percent for 2018-19—a hike of 10 basis points from the previous year—for its six crore subscribers.
The Central Board of Trustees—the decision-making body of EPFO—headed by Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar announced the hike in its meeting held in Delhi today.
The proposal must now be approved by the Finance Ministry. The retirement fund body had a corpus of Rs 13.33 lakh crore as on March 31, 2018, according to data on its website. The hike in interest rate will leave the fund with a surplus of a little over Rs 151 crore as against a surplus of Rs 586 crore last year, an official present at the meeting told reporters.
Another proposal to hike minimum pension for subscribers from the current Rs 1,000 will be discussed at a meeting in March, the official said. There were demands that the pension for subscribers be increased after the government announced a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 for informal sector workers.