Interest Rates for Small Savings Schemes for January to March 2020

The new year 2020 brought good news for conservative investors. The Government of India has not changed the interest rates on Small Savings Schemes for the period of January 2020 to March 2020. This means the interest rates for post office savings schemes from 1st January to 31st March 2020 will remain constant as they were from 1st October to 31st December 2019.

Post Office Small Savings Schemes

The post office investments like PPF (Public Provident Fund), National Savings Certificate, SCSS (Senior Citizen Savings Scheme), KVS (Kisan Vikas Patra), SSA, RD Account, POTD, etc. are very popular investment options among conservative investors.

What are the latest interest rates for small savings schemes for January to March 2020? Which is the highest interest rate on post office savings schemes? In this post, let us take a look at the interest rates for Small Savings Schemes for January to March 2020.

Interest Rates Schedule for Post Office Small Savings Schemes

Earlier the rate of interest on post office savings schemes used to be announced yearly once. Since 1st April 2016, the Government of India announces the rate of interest on small savings schemes on a quarterly basis.

Below is the quarterly interest rate schedule for post office saving schemes.

S. No.	Rates of Interest would be effective for the quarter	The date on which it will be notified
1	April to June (First Quarter)	15th March
2	July to September (Second Quarter)	15th June
3	October to December (Third Quarter)	15th September
4	January to March (Fourth Quarter)	15th December

The Government of India announced the rate of interest for post office saving schemes for the fourth quarter of FY 2019-2020 starting from January 1, 2020, and ending on March 31, 2020.

Interest Rates for Small Savings Schemes for the period January to March 2020

This time again, the government has not changed the rate of interest for post office saving schemes for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2019-2020. This means that the rates of interest of post office schemes like NSC and PPF will remain unchanged for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2019-2020.

Rate of Interest for Small Savings Schemes for January to March 2020

1. The Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (SCSS) will continuously fetch the highest interest rate of 8.6% per annum.

2. The 5 years National Savings Certificate will offer an interest rate of 7.9% p.a.

3. The PPF (Public Provident Fund) scheme will also fetch an interest rate of 7.9% p.a.

4. The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Account will offer an interest rate of 8.4% p.a.

5. KVP (Kisan Vikas Patra) will fetch an interest rate of 7.6% and mature in 113 months.

6. The Recurring Deposit Account (5 years) will fetch an interest rate of 7.2% per annum.

7. The five years Monthly Income Account will offer an interest rate of 7.6% per annum.

8. Post Office Time Deposit of 1 to 5 years interest rates will be as:

The interest rate for I year Time Deposit is 6.9%

The interest rate for 2 year Time Deposit is also 6.9%

The interest rate for 3 year Time Deposit is also kept at 6.9%

The interest rate for 5 years Time Deposit is 7.7%

9. The interest rate for the Post Office Savings Account will also remain unchanged at 4% per annum.

Interest Rates for Small Savings Schemes for January to March 2020

Scheme Name	The rate of Interest from 01/01/2020 to 31/03/2020	The rate of Interest from 01/10/2019 to 31/12/2019	Frequency of Compounding
Savings Account	4%	4%	Annually
Time Deposit - 1 Year	6.9%	6.9%	Quarterly
Time Deposit - 2 Years	6.9%	6.9%	Quarterly
Time Deposit - 3 Years	6.9%	6.9%	Quarterly
Time Deposit - 5 Years	7.7%	7.7%	Quarterly
5 Year Recurring Deposit (RD)	7.2%	7.2%	Quarterly
Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme	8.4%	8.4%	Annually
Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP)	7.6%	7.6%	Annually
PPF Scheme	7.9%	7.9%	Annually
5 Year National Savings Certificate	7.9%	7.9%	Annually
5 Year Post Office Monthly Income Account	7.6%	7.6%	Monthly and paid
5 Year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme	8.6%	8.6%	Quarterly and paid

Click here to read the office memorandum from the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance about interest rates for small saving schemes.

You can view the interest rates for the previous eight quarters:

·      Interest rates for small saving schemes for October to December 2019

·      Interest rates for small saving schemes for July to September 2019

·      Interest rates for small saving schemes for April to June 2019

·      Interest rates for small saving schemes for January to March 2019

·      Interest rates for small saving schemes for October to December 2018

·      Interest rates for small saving schemes for July to September 2018

·      Interest rates for Small Saving Schemes for April to June 2018

·      Small Saving Schemes Interest Rates for January to March 2018

Conclusion

This time again, the government has not changed the rate of interest on small savings schemes for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2019-2020. Therefore, these post office saving schemes still offer the highest rate of interest as compared to bank fixed deposits. Moreover, these schemes are backed with a government guarantee, therefore you can consider investing in these schemes.

Also, read: 7 Investment for tax free income in India

Also, read: 7 financial decision you need to make before you turn 30 

Also, read: What is Atal Pension Yojana?

Also, read: SBI Recurring Deposit Account | SBI RD Account

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Note: This post was originally published on January 1, 2020.