Retirement fund manager Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will take a call on the interest rate on employees’ provident fund deposits for 2021-22 in its meeting next month. “The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) CBT meeting will be held in Guwahati in March where proposal for interest rate for 2021-22 would be listed as it is the end of the fiscal year,” Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav has told PTI on EPF interest rate for 2021-22.

EPFO’s apex decision-making body — central board of trustees led by the union labor and employment minister — will meet in the second week of March – after the state assembly election results are declared – in Guwahati to take a call on the Fy22 interest rate. The central board is likely to explore expanding the investment basket in new products as well.

 

The assembly election results will be announced on 10 March.

“The EPFO CBT meeting will be held in Guwahati where the interest issue will be listed for a decision. We are nearing the financial year-end, and the CBT will take the call on the FY22 interest rate,” said Bhupender Yadav, the union minister of labor and employment.

Its EPF rate was 8.5 percent in 2019-20, 8.65 percent in 2018-19, and 8.55 percent in 2017-18.

The EPFO invests 85 percent of its annual accruals in debt and 15 percent inequities. In debt, a majority – between a minimum of 45 percent and up to 65 percent are invested in government securities and related investments.

Inequities, currently, the investment is focused on ETFs mimicking the Nifty 50 and Sensex 30 indices and ETFs that aid the government’s disinvestment plan through two fund managers -SBI Funds Management Ltd and UTI Asset Management Company.

The EPFO currently has about 60 million active subscribers and manages funds in excess of Rs 15 lakh crore. EPFO gets an annual deposit of over 1.8 lakh crore.