The Centre on Thursday decided to withdraw the order to drastically cut interest rates on small savings schemes to the relief of millions of small savers and prompting the Congress to link the U-turn to the ongoing State Assembly elections.
A day after delivering a massive jolt to depositors, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the Government will withdraw orders to cut interest rate on small savings schemes and assured to restore the rates to last quarter of the financial year ending on March 31.
Her own Ministry had on Wednesday reduced interest rate by up to 1.1 per cent across various small savings schemes, including the National Savings Certificates (NSC) and Public Provident Fund (PPF).
“Interest rates of small savings schemes of GoI shall continue to be at the rates which existed in the last quarter of 2020-2021, i.e, rates that prevailed as of March 2021. Orders issued by oversight shall be withdrawn,” Sitharaman said in early morning tweet.
Interest rate on PPF was reduced by 0.7 per cent to 6.4 per cent, while NSC was to earn 0.9 per cent less at 5.9 per cent.
The steepest fall of 1.1 per cent was effected in the one-year term deposit. The new rate was brought down to 4.4 per cent as compared to 5.5 per cent.
The Congress hit out at the Finance Minister and asked whether the U-turn was an “oversight” or an “election-driven hindsight”. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the small saving rates would be reduced soon after elections.
“There was already loot on petrol and diesel and soon after the elections end, the small saving rates will be reduced and there will be a loot on the savings of the middle-class. This Government is of jumlas (rhetoric) and the loot of common people,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi using the hashtag “oversight”.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “Really Nirmala Sitharaman ‘oversight’ in issuing the order to decrease interest rates on GOI schemes or election driven ‘hindsight’ in withdrawing it?”
Party general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala hit out at Sitharaman and said she has no right to continue as the Finance Minister.
“Madam FM, Are u running a ‘Circus’ or a ‘Government’,” Surjewala asked.
“You have no moral right to continue as FM,” he said.
“One can imagine the functioning of economy when such duly approved order affecting crores of people can be issued by an ‘oversight’. Who is the competent authority referred in order,” he said on Twitter.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said when inflation is at about 6 per cent and expected to rise, the BJP Government is offering interest rates below 6 per cent hitting the savers and the middle class below the belt.
“The BJP Government had decided to launch another assault on the middle class by slashing the interest rates and profiting itself. When caught, the FM is putting forward the lame excuse of ‘inadvertent error’,” he said on Twitter.