The government has retained the rate of interest for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other related schemes at 8.7 percent for the current fiscal.

The 8.7 percent interest will apply on Provident Funds of central government employees, railways and defence forces, according to the notification issued by the Finance Ministry.

The rate of interest will be effective from 1st April 2015, it added.

The interest rate for GPF is in line with the interest rate fixed for Public Provident Fund (PPF) at 8.7 percent for 2015-16.

The government had, however, raised the interest rates for other small saving schemes.

The interest rate for senior citizens savings scheme was hiked from 9.2 percent to 9.3 percent and for Sukanya Samriddhi Account, the special deposit scheme for girl child, the interest rate has been hiked from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent, respectively.

The interest earning for Kisan Vikas Patra has been retained at 8.7 percent.