The Buyt Desk
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new one-time small saving scheme – ‘Mahila Samman Saving Certificate’ for girls and women. The FM new scheme will provide a 7.5% fixed interest rate for a period of 2 years along with the option of partial withdrawal. One can make the deposits in the name of a girl child or a woman. The scheme has a maximum deposit limit of Rs 2 lakh.
A one-time new small savings scheme will be made to commemorate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. This scheme will be available up to March 2025. The interest rate provided in this scheme is much higher than most bank FDs and investment schemes like NSC (National Savings Certificate), POMIS (Post Office Monthly Income Scheme), SSY (Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana), PPF (Public Provident Fund), and SCSS (Senior Citizen Saving Scheme).
What are small savings schemes?
The government administers small savings schemes to encourage people to start saving even if it’s a small sum of money.SSY, PPF, SCSS, POMIS, and NSC are popular small savings schemes. These investment options provide fixed returns and tax benefits under section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
The government revises interest rates on these schemes once every quarter. For example, for Jan-March 2023, Public Provident Fund provides 7.1% interest rates, while National Savings Certificate (VIII Issue) offers an interest rate of 7%.
Since Mahila Samman Saving Certificate is backed by a sovereign, it is completely free from credit risk. Even though the scheme details have not been still shared by the government, the scheme can be opened in state-owned banks from April 1, 2023, onwards.
