CPF Special, MediSave and Retirement Accounts’ interest rate falls to 4% for Q1 2025
Rates for the Ordinary Account and HDB housing loans remain unchanged
THE interest rate for the Central Provident Fund’s (CPF) Special, MediSave and Retirement Accounts (SMRA) will fall to the floor rate of 4 per cent per annum from Jan 1 to Mar 31, 2025, from the current quarter’s 4.14 per cent per annum.
This comes as the 10-year Singapore Government Securities that the SMRA interest rate is pegged to fetched a lower 12-month average yield, said the CPF Board, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Ministry of Health on Wednesday (Dec 11).
The Ordinary Account’s (OA) interest rate will stay unchanged at the floor rate of 2.5 per cent per annum for the first quarter of 2025, as its pegged rate remains below the floor rate.
The concessionary interest rate for HDB housing loans, pegged at 0.1 per cent above the OA interest rate, will remain unchanged at 2.6 per cent per annum for the period.
All CPF members will also earn extra interest on their CPF savings. Members below the age of 55 will earn an extra 1 per cent of interest on the first S$60,000 of their combined balances, but this will be capped at S$20,000 for OAs.
Members aged 55 and above will earn an extra 2 per cent interest on the first S$30,000 of their combined balances – also capped at S$20,000 for OAs – and an additional 1 per cent on the next S$30,000.
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The extra interest earned on the OA balances will go into a member’s Special Account or Retirement Account.
Basic Healthcare Sum for 2025
From Jan 1, 2025, the Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS) will be raised to S$75,500 from S$71,500 for members under the age of 65. For members who turn 65 in 2025, their BHS sum will be fixed at S$75,500 from Jan 1, 2025, and will not change subsequently.
The BHS – the estimated savings required for basic subsidised healthcare needs in old age – is adjusted yearly for members below the age of 65 to keep pace with the growth in MediSave. It is fixed for life once members reach the age of 65.
The BHS for members aged 66 and above in 2025 has already been fixed and will not change.
CPF members may make MediSave account contributions of up to a maximum sum that is their BHS amount. In the event that MediSave contributions surpass the BHS, the surplus sum is automatically transferred to a member’s other CPF accounts.
CPF members with less than the BHS in their MediSave accounts are not required to top up their MediSave accounts and may still make withdrawals from these to pay for approved medical expenses.
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