Small savings schemes rates raised 50 bps

The government on Monday raised interest rates on post office-operated small savings like monthly income scheme (MIS) and public provident fund (PPF) by up to 50 basis points, making them more attractive to investors. Interest rates on time deposits of one and two years have been increased by 0.5% each to 8.2% and 8.3%, respectively, while rates for popular MIS has been hiked by 0.3% to 8.5%, an official release said. Interest rate on PPF has been increased by 0.2% to 8.8%. The new rates will be effective April 1, 2012 and will remain valid during 2012-13.