New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS): The government on Thursday raised the interest rates on small saving schemes, including National Savings Certificates (NSCs), Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), for the third quarter of the fiscal (October-December).

A Finance Ministry notification said that for time deposits of less than 5 years the interest increases by 0.3 percentage point, while it would go up by 0.4 percentage point for others.

The PPF and NSCs will earn 8 per cent interest from October 1, 2018, while KVPs will earn 7.7 per cent.

The PPF, NSC and KVP are currently offering 7.6, 7.6 and 7.3 per cent interest, respectively.

While the Senior Citizen's Savings Scheme of five-year period will offer 8.7 per cent interest, the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana for the girl child will offer 8.5 per cent.

The government retained the interest on savings deposits at 4 per cent, compounded annually.

The new interest rates are in line with the hike announced by India's central bank in key interest rates.