No change to CPF interest rates, HDB mortgage rate for April-June

[SINGAPORE] THE Special and Medisave Accounts (SMA) interest rate will be maintained at 4 per cent a year from April 1 to June 30, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board and Housing Board said on Tuesday.

The Retirement Account (RA) interest rate will also be maintained at 4 per cent from Jan 1 to Dec 31 this year.

The 4 per cent rate was set for two years from Jan 1, 2008, to December 2009.

Extended due to global economic conditions, it was due to expire at the end of last year, but was extended to the end of this year.

The Ordinary Account (OA) interest rate will also be kept the same, at 2.5 per cent a year.

CPF members will continue to earn interest rates of up to 3.5 per cent a year on their OA money and up to 5 per cent a year on their SMA money in the second quarter of this year.

For their RA, members will earn interest rates of up to 5 per cent a year in 2018.

"These interest rates include an extra 1 per cent interest paid on the first $60,000 of a member's combined balances (with up to $20,000 from the OA) which is part of the Government's efforts to enhance the retirement savings of CPF members," the CPF Board and Housing Board said.

For CPF members who are 55 and above, there will be an additional 1 per cent extra interest on the first $30,000 of their combined balances, on top of the initial 1 per cent paid on the first $60,000.

This means they will earn up to 6 per cent interest per year on their retirement balances.

Extra interest received on the OA will go into the Special Account or RA. If a member is over 55 and under the CPF Life scheme, the extra interest will still be earned on his or her combined balances, including savings used for CPF Life.

The concessionary interest rate for HDB mortgage loans, pegged at 0.1 per cent above the OA interest rate, will stay at 2.6 per cent a year from April 1 to June 30.

THE STRAITS TIMES