Employees provident fund rate to be 8.80 per cent

Chennai, Feb 16: The Central Board of Trustees of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Tuesday recommended an interest rate of 8.80 percent for 2015-16 on its retirement funds of employees, said a member.

"The interest rate recommended is 8.80 percent while the employee representatives at the meeting wanted at least 8.95 percent," Prabhakar J. Banasure, a board member and secretary, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), told IANS.

The board meeting held here was chaired by union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya.

"The minister said the rate is interim interest rate. This is something of a new procedure followed by EPFO," Banasure added.

According to him, the interest rate could have been declared after the 2015-16 balance sheet was audited.

He said if the interest rate is fixed at 8.95 percent, the surplus will be around Rs.91 crore but at 8.80 percent, the surplus would be around Rs.673 crore.

"The chairman said the market is going down and hence higher rate cannot be recommended now," Banasure said.

He said Rs.31,844 crore was the amount available to be distributed as interest to the EPFO subscribers.

Incidentally, EPFO's financial audit and investment committee earlier said there is potential to offer 8.95 percent interest rate.

IANS