NS Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is probably going to credit the interest rate for FY21 just before Diwali, according to a report in Hindustan Times. This is apparently being done in an effort to make people happy ahead of the festive season. This disclosure will be made to government employees and pensioners simultaneously with their receipt. dearness allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) have increased in recent months. It came from two government officials who informed HT about the new change but did not wish to be named.
It will surely bring some holiday joy at a time when it is so desperately needed. This will directly impact the salaried class, which has faced tremendous hurdles in trying to stay afloat in the wake of the pandemic. The EPFO’s central board has categorically approved the hike in interest rates, as reported by HT. Additionally, the retirement fund manager has sought a final green light from the finance ministry and is expected to go ahead soon, according to an unnamed official who informed HT.
One of these unnamed officials said that the Finance Ministry’s approval of 8.5 percent interest rate for 2020-21 is going to go ahead soon. He also emphasized that all factors were taken into account before agreeing on that 8.5 per cent rate and that the fund manager is well placed with that number.
In early March this year, the board had recommended a payout of around 8.5 per cent for FY21. Accordingly, the EPFO apparently came in at an income of around Rs 70,300 crore in the last financial year. This includes around Rs 4,000 crore from selling a portion of equity investments, the report said.
The interest rate, which has been recommended and is likely to be approved, came as a result of interest income from debt investments and income from equity investments, according to a statement made by the entity after its central board meeting, in the report. Having said.
In the last few months, the government has been increasing the rates of DA and DR of central government employees. This comes after a period of stalled rates and suspended DA after the pandemic hit in 2020. These hikes have brought rates up from 31 per cent already estimated. The government recently announced that it is allowing its employees to withdraw their Child Education Allowance (CEA).
With the addition of these funds to the already coming hikes, government employees will see decent payouts before the festive season and by the end of this year. It should also be noted that the state governments adopted this trend and increased their interest rates for DA to 28 per cent. There were a total of seven states that recently extended it. These states were Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan and the most recent entrant in that list, Assam.
Earlier the DA used to sit at just 17 per cent, but after the hike by the government, the DA was raised to 28 per cent, which came into effect from July. Recently there was another hike of 3 per cent in DA. This reduced the DA to 31 per cent along with a possible increase in salary. As a result of all these hikes, around 65 lakh pensioners and 48 lakh central government employees will be benefitted. Going ahead in the festive season, this number may rise to another level.
read all breaking news, breaking news And coronavirus news Here
.