GOVT DOUBLES LIMIT FOR PF INVESTMENT IN STOCK MARKETS

NEW DELHI: The Union government doubled on Thursday the limit on money from provident fund that can be invested in stock, bond and commodities markets, defying labour unions that say such investments are more prone to risks.

The labour ministry said the doubling of the 5% ceiling on investments in exchangetraded funds (ETF) will ensure higher returns for PF account holders.

The move bypassed the central board of trustees of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation that usually takes decisions on the provident fund corpus which gives financial security to millions of working Indians who contribute to it.

“We decided to raise it... keeping the good economic situation, ground conditions and how social security funds invest globally. We are custodians of workers money and our responsibility is to see they get good returns,” labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya said at a press conference.

EPFO has already invested Rs1,500 crore in ETFS in the first half of the current fiscal and will invest about Rs500 crore in the remaining six months.