Interest rate for Ordinary Account savings in CPF to remain at 2.5%

SINGAPORE: The interest rate for Ordinary Account (OA) savings in the Central Provident Fund (CPF) will remain at 2.5 percent from 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2013.

The CPF Board said the computed CPF interest rate, derived from the major local banks' interest rates from 1 August 2012 to 31 October 2012, worked out to be 0.21 percent per annum.

It said as this is below the legislated minimum of 2.5 percent per annum, the OA interest rate will remain unchanged at the legislated minimum of 2.5 percent per annum.

The CPF Board added that an extra 1 percent interest will continue to be paid on the first $60,000 of a member's combined balances, with up to $20,000 from the OA.

The extra interest from the OA will go into the member's Special or Retirement Account to enhance his retirement savings.

As for the HDB's Mortgage Rate, the CPF Board said it will remain unchanged at 2.6 percent per annum from 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2013.