The Centre on Thursday raised interest rates on small savings schemes by up to 0.4% for the October to December quarter. The rates are revised on a quarterly basis.

The small savings schemes include public provident funds, five-year term deposits, recurring deposits, national savings certificates and the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme. The revised rates will remain effective from October 1 to December 31, said the Finance Ministry.

The interest rates for five-year term deposits, recurring deposits and the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme have been raised to 7.8%, 7.3% and 8.7%. The Kisan Vikas Patra will fetch 7.7% interest and mature in 112 months as against 118 months in the previous quarter. The Sukanya Samriddhiaccount will yield an interest rate of 8.5%. The interest rate of savings deposits has been retained at 4%.