The government on Wednesday kept interest rates unchanged on various small savings schemes, including the Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), for the October-December 2026 quarter.
Investors were closely watching the government's latest announcement on interest rates for small savings schemes, amid expectations of a possible revision.
Small savings schemes such as the Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), and Recurring Deposit (RD) remain popular among risk-averse investors. The government reviews the interest rates on these schemes every quarter.
In the previous review, the government retained interest rates for the July-September 2026 quarter without any changes.
What are current rates?
The Public Provident Fund (PPF) continues to offer 7.1 percent per annum, while both the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) provide 8.2 percent per annum.
The National Savings Certificate (NSC) carries an interest rate of 7.7 percent, the Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS) offers 7.4 percent, and the Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) earns 7.5 percent per annum.
Among post office time deposits, the 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year deposits offer 6.9 percent, 7.0 percent, 7.1 percent, and 7.5 percent per annum, respectively, while the 5-year Post Office Recurring Deposit (RD) continues to earn 6.7 percent per annum.
What determines small-savings interest rates?
The interest rates on small-savings schemes are reviewed by the government every quarter. The rates are linked to the yields on Government Securities (G-secs) of similar maturities, with different schemes carrying specific spreads over the relevant G-sec benchmark. As a result, changes in market yields can influence the rates applicable to small-savings schemes. However, the government has the final say on the rates notified for each quarter. The Department of Economic Affairs maintains the official
notifications on small-savings interest rates.
When were interest rates for PPF, NSC, SCSS and other post office small savings schemes changed?
The Finance Ministry last changed the interest rates of post office small savings schemes for the last quarter of the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24, i.e., for the January-March quarter.
In December 2023, the ministry had last hiked the interest rates of 3-year time deposits and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY). The 3-year time deposit interest rate increased from 7 percent to 7.1 percent, while the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) interest rate was raised from 8 percent to 8.2 percent.
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