Trade unions will press for 9.5 per cent interest on Provident Fund deposits in 2013-14 during the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) meeting scheduled on Monday.





The CBT, apex body of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), will meet to approve the proposal for rate of return to be given on PF deposits in the current financial year.



“We will demand for 9.5 per cent rate of interest for subscribers for the current fiscal, higher than 8.5 per cent provided for 2012-13,” All India Trade Union Congress national secretary and a CBT member D L Sachdev told a news agency.



“This rate of 8.5 per cent is less than the interest provided by banks these days, and would not be able to cover inflation,” he said.



Retail inflation for industrial workers in November was 11.47 per cent. This is the rate of inflation which is used by Central government for computing hike in Dearness Allowance, he added. According to EPFO estimates in its proposal for the trustees, payment of 8.5 per cent rate of interest on PF deposit for this fiscal would leave a small surplus of Rs 56.96 crore.



