There is good news for fixed income investors as the govt has decided to keep the interest rates on PPF, NSC small savings schemes or post office schemes, unchanged for the quarter ending March 31, 2021.  Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Savings Certificate (NSC) will continue to carry an annual interest rate of 7.1 pc and 6.8 pc, respectively.

Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified by the Finance Ministry on a quarterly basis. ''The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the fourth quarter of 2020-21 ending on March 31 shall remain unchanged from those notified for the third quarter (October 1-Dec 31, 2020)'', the Finance Ministry said in a notification.

Accordingly, the interest rate for the five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been retained at 7.4 percent. The interest in the senior citizens' scheme is paid quarterly. The interest rate on savings deposits has been retained at 4 pc annually. The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana will offer 7.6 pc rate during the third quarter of the current fiscal.

The annual interest rate on Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) has been retained at 6.9 pc. Term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch an interest rate in the range of 5.5-6.7 pc, to be paid quarterly, while the interest rate on a five-year recurring deposit is pegged at 5.8 pc.

Pune attracts investors, to generate 25,000 jobs

Indian stocks attract over 22-bn-dollar in 2020

Private equity investment in Real estate may revive in 2021