New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI): Ahead of general elections, the interest rate paid on employee provident fund was on Saturday hiked to 8.25 per cent for fiscal year ending March 31, the highest in three years. The central board of trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) recommended to the finance ministry for raising the interest rate for nearly 8 crore contributing subscribers, the labour ministry said in a statement. This will be the highest rate of interest for EPF subscribers in the last three years. The previous high was in 2019-20 when 8.5 per cent interest was paid.

Former Pakistani prime ministers and bitter rivals Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan on Friday both declared victory in elections marred by delayed results and militant attacks, throwing the country into further political turmoil. Sharif’s party won the most seats by a single party in Thursday’s election, but supporters of imprisoned Khan, who ran as independents instead of as a single bloc after his party was barred from the polls, won the most seats overall. Sharif said his party would talk to other groups to form a coalition government as it had failed to win a clear majority on its own.