The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund Office (EPFO) on March 28 set an 8.15 per cent interest rate on the provident fund for this fiscal.
The decision was taken at the 233rd meeting of the Central Board of Trustees held in Delhi today under the Chairmanship of Bhupendra Yadav, Union Minister for Labour and Employment.
The CBT suggested adding safeguards to the amount that balanced the growth and surplus funds. The 8.15 per cent recommended rate of interest protects the surplus and ensures higher member income. Both the interest rate (8.15%) and the surplus ($663.91 million) are higher than they were the previous year.
In accordance with the Board’s decision, a distribution of more than Rs 90,000 crore will be made to member accounts on a total principal amount of about Rs 11 lakh crore, which was, respectively, Rs 77,424.84 crore and Rs 9.56 lakh crore in FY2021-22. The total income recommended for being dispersed is the greatest to date. In comparison to 2021–2022, the principal and income growth rates are over 16 and 15 per cent, respectively.
The lowest interest rate in forty years was announced by the EPFO for the years 2021–2022. The previous time the interest rate dipped to 8 per cent was in 1977-78.
The EPF interest rate for FY23 was anticipated to be in the range of 8%. In March of last year, the CBT suggested 8.1 per cent for FY22, and the finance ministry approved it in June of the same year. The EPFO had an estimated Rs 450 crore in surplus as a result, which suggested that the rates would remain within the same range.
