The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has announced its decision to reduce interest rates for Employees Provident Fund from 8.8% to 8.65%. This will be applicable for the current year 2016-2017, once it is approved by the Central government.
This reduction in the Provident Fund interest rate is an attack on the savings of crores of workers. It is estimated that there are about 4 crore active EPF accounts. These workers will now earn less on their savings.
The decision to lower interest rates on EPF comes on the heels of the earlier decision to lower interest rate on small savings schemes by 0.1%. Together, they constitute an attack on the working class and toiling people of our country,
Earlier this year, the Central Government had announced the reduction of EPF interest rate from 8.8% to 8.7 %. However, in the wake of massive protests of the working class, the government had been forced to withdraw that order.
The Communist Ghadar Party condemns the decision to reduce the interest rate on EPFO, and calls upon the working class to unitedly fight for its reversal.