The government can give a big blow to crores of members of EPFO. On Friday, the government can announce the interest received on EPFO. In such a situation, it is believed that the Central Board of Trustees of EPFO can cut the money received in PF. Keeping in view the decline in stock markets and bond yields and more claim settlement, EPFO's Central Board of Trustee may reduce the interest rate for FY2024-25. This will affect the interest rate given on the retirement savings of 300 million members.
A meeting is to be held tomorrow i.e. on Friday 28 February to take a decision on the interest rate of EPF for 2024-25. In this meeting, a big decision can be taken on the interest received on the money deposited in PF, which will directly affect the amount of crores of EPFO members. Last year, the government increased the interest rate of EFP from 8.15 percent to 8.25 percent. At the same time, it is believed that it can be cut.
According to a Business Standard report, the Board's Investment Committee had a meeting last week to discuss EPFO's Income and Expenditure profile, so that the EPF rate could be recommended. On the condition of not telling the name of the employer representative in the board, the report of business standardded said that the interest rate this year may be lower than last year. This is because the bond yield has declined in recent months. In such a situation, if a higher interest rate is announced to deal with an emergency, then the retirement fund body will not have much surplus.
Apart from this, high demand for claim settlement has left a low pool for annual EPF credit. As of January, EPFO has processed more than 5.08 million claims of ₹ 2.05 trillion in 2024-25. Whereas in 2023-24, more than 44.5 million claim settlements of ₹ 1.82 trillion have been done.
