Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Interest Rate Hike FY 2023-24: Here’s a Good news for salaried employees having EPF accounts!
The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of Employees Provident Fund has recommended 8.25% EPF Interest Rate for FY 2023-24, according to Ministry of Labour and Employment. This is the highest EPF interest rate in last three years.
In March last year, EPFO had fixed EPF interest for FY 2022-23 at 8.15%, which was marginally higher than the interest rate for FY 2021-22. The EPF interest rate for FY 2021-22 was fixed at an over four-decade low of 8.1%. It was 8.5% in 2020-21.
The EPF interest rate for FY 2023-24 is also higher than Government’s savings schemes like Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), National Savings Certificate (NSC), and Post Office Fixed Deposit scheme.
Who will benefit from EPF interest rate hike?
The higher EPF interest rate will benefit nearly six crore EPFO subscribers.
The CBT has further recommended a distribution of historic income amount of Rs 1,07,000 crores to EPF members’ accounts on a total principal amount of about Rs 13 lakh crores, which was Rs. 91,151.66 crores and Rs. 11.02 lakh crores in the financial year 2022-23, respectively, according to the ministry.
“The total income recommended for distribution is the highest on record,” the ministry said.
The decision to hike EPF interest rate was taken during the 235th meeting of the Central Board of Trustees of EPF held today (February 10, 2024).
“The Central Board recommended an annual rate of interest of 8.25% to be credited on EPF accumulations in members’ accounts for the financial year 2023-24,” said an official statement of the ministry.
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Why EPF interest rate has been increased
The EPF interest rate hike comes on the back of 17.39% increase in EPFO’s income compared to previous year.
“Comparing to the previous financial year, there has been significant growth. The income has grown by more than 17.39%, while the principal amount has increased by 17.97%. This suggests a healthy financial performance and potentially strong returns for the members,” the ministry said.
Note: An official notification in the government gazette will come after approval of the EPF rate hike recommendation by the Ministry of Finance.
