The government has announced that it will not change the interest rates for small savings schemes for July- September 2024. This decision means that the current rates will continue to apply during this quarter as well. Post office savings schemes include Public Provident Fund, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Post Office Time Deposits (POTD), Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, and Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS).

"The rates of interest on various Small Savings Schemes for the second quarter of FY 2024-25 starting from July, 2024 and ending on 30' September, 2024 shall remain unchanged from those notified for the first quarter (1St April, 2024 to 30th June, 2024) of FY 2024-25," the finance ministry said in a press released dated June 28, 2024.

This means that the Public Provident Fund (PPF) will continue to earn an interest rate of 7.1% from July to September 2024. Here is a look at the post office schemes interest rates for the July-September 2024 quarter.

Source: Ministry of Finance

How small savings scheme interest rates are determined

The government regularly evaluates the interest rates of small savings schemes every quarter. The Shyamala Gopinath Committee proposed the methodology for determining these rates. Based on the committee's recommendations, the interest rates for different schemes are expected to be set at a range of 25 to 100 basis points above the yields of government bonds with matching maturities. This approach aims to ensure that the interest rates offered by the small savings schemes remain competitive and attractive to investors.

Also read: RBI Floating Rate Savings Bond interest rate for July-December 2024 announced; check latest rate here

Post office schemes: The last time interest rates were increased

The government decided to increase the interest rates of certain small savings or post office schemes for the December 31, 2023 quarter. However, it's worth noting that the interest rates of all schemes except for the recurring deposit rate have been maintained at their previous levels. The interest rate on the PPF has remained unchanged at 7.1 percent since the April-June 2020 quarter.

Since May 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put into effect a succession of significant interest rate increases. As a result, banks have taken corresponding measures to raise the interest rates on fixed deposits (FD), marking a favorable development for FD investors who have endured an extended period of historically low interest rates. However, in the last five policy meetings, the RBI has maintained the status quo by abstaining from further modifying the key rates.