The EPF Board on Saturday again deferred decision on the contentious issue of interest rate for its 4 crore subscribers till the next meeting to facilitate more consultations between the Labour and Finance ministries.
The meeting was told by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, who is the chairman of the EPF Board of Trustees, that some more time was needed to fix the rate for the current fiscal.
Sources said the trade unions participating in the meeting rejected a suggestion for eight per cent interest rate for 2006-07 and 8.25 per cent for 2007-08. The rate of interest for 2005-06 was 8.5 per cent.
The EPF Board met when the overall interest rates in the economy have shot up and some of the banks have started paying as much as 9.5 per cent interest on the fixed deposits.