The government has increased the rate of interest for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other related schemes by 0.4 percentage points to 8 per cent for the October-December quarter.

The rate is in line with that for Public Provident Fund.

The interest rate on GPF was 7.6 per cent for the July-September quarter of 2018-19. "... during the year 2018-2019, accumulations at the credit of subscribers to the General Provident Fund and other similar funds shall carry interest at the rate of 8 per cent with effect from October 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018," a Department of Economic Affairs' notification said.

The interest rate would apply on Provident Funds of central government employees, railways and defence forces.

Last month, the government announced that the interest on small savings, including NSC and PPF, will be hiked by up to 0.4 percentage point for the October-December quarter, to align it with rising deposit rates in the banks.