The special 15 percent interest rate for fixed deposits of senior citizens at commercial banks have not been changed despite changes in other interest rates, the Finance Ministry said today (Aug 5).
Issuing a press release, the Ministry refuted media reports stating that the interest rates for senior citizens have been reduced along with the interest rates for other deposits.
“The Treasury has been paying nearly 16 billion rupees annually to commercial banks to provide increased interest rate of 15 percent to senior citizens,” the release read.
The Finance Ministry pointed out that the 15 percent interest rate for senior citizens, has remained the same since March 2015.
Further, the release noted that annual interest income of senior citizens up to 1.5 million rupees has been exempted from withholding tax in line with the annual budget for this year.
The Department of National Zoological Gardens is readying enclosures to quarantine two large tortoises that were found stranded 15 kilometers westwards off Pitipana Negombo, today.
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