The government on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged for various small savings schemes, including the Public Provident Fund and National Savings Certificate, for the seventh straight quarter, beginning 1 January, 2026.
“The rates of interest on various Small Savings Schemes for the fourth quarter of FY 2025-26, starting from 1 January, 2026, and ending on 31 March, 2026, shall remain unchanged from those notified for the third quarter (1 September, 2025 to 31 December, 2025) of FY 2025-26,” the finance ministry said in a notification.
According to the notification, deposits under the Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme will continue to attract an interest rate of 8.2 per cent.
The rate on a three year term deposit has also been retained at 7.1 per cent, the same as in the current quarter.
Interest rates for popular schemes such as the Public Provident Fund and the post office savings deposit scheme have been kept unchanged at 7.1 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.
The Kisan Vikas Patra will offer an interest rate of 7.5 per cent, with investments maturing in 115 months.
The interest rate on the National Savings Certificate will remain at 7.7 per cent for the January to March quarter.
Like the current quarter, the monthly income scheme will earn 7.4 per cent for investors during the fourth quarter of the current fiscal.
With this decision, interest rates on small savings schemes, which are mainly operated by post offices and banks, have remained unchanged for seven consecutive quarters.
The government had earlier made changes to some schemes in the fourth quarter of 2023-24.
The government notifies interest rates on small savings schemes every quarter.
