EPF Interest rate at 8.5 per cent for 2006-07

New Delhi, July 23: The Board of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) today left the Interest rate on the pension fund unchanged at 8.5 per cent for 2006-07.

The decision regarding the interest rate for current fiscal will be taken at in the next meeting.

The Board, which met here decided to retain the interest rates at 8.5 per cent for 2006-07.

The meeting, presided over by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, saw stiff resistance put up by Left-backed trade unions.

During the two-hour meeting, Mr Fernandes put up the Venkataraman Committee Report before the Board which had worked out that a surplus of Rs 535 crore existed in the suspense account. This created grounds for retaining the 8.5 per cent interest rate for 2006-07, despite the fact that the government had made out a case earlier for lowering this to eight per cent.

The central trade unions wanted the rate of interest to be hiked to 9.5 per cent, in view of the hardening of the interest rates generally. .

Mr Fernandes in the last meeting had suggested that the interest rate on EPF be reduced to eight per cent for the year, but in the meeting this morning the Committee's Report came handy in retaining it at the earlier level.

The interest rate for 2007-08 on the EPF could not be decided as the accounts had not been finalised. It was, therefore, decided to keep the decision in this regard on hold till the next meeting.

A suggestion was also made that the Committee, which had gone into the period 2000-06 for identifying the surplus, look into the earlier period too. This could perhaps yield a larger surplus.

The Minister said he would take a decision in this regard later.

UNI