Retirement fund body EPFO is likely to announce the rate of interest on employees’ provident fund (EPF) deposits for 2022-23 at its two-day meeting beginning Monday.

The EPFO had lowered the interest on EPF for 2021-22 to an over four-decade low of 8.1 per cent for its about five crore subscribers, from 8.5 per cent in 2020-21 in March 2022.

Meanwhile, the trustees are expected to meet later in the week to rethink its investment approach.

A report in the Hindu Business Line claims that the EPFO is continuing to invest in Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports and SEZ.

The EPFO subscribers are the captive investors in the two Adani companies as the stocks are part of the NSE Nifty, which is tracked by the ETFs, in which the EPFO invests.

The EPFO invests 15 per cent of its corpus in ETFs. Investments stood at Rs 1.57 lakh crore in 2021-22, and in the current fiscal it has invested around Rs 8,000 crore, according to the Hindu report. The investments will continue till September, unless the trustees review the exposures later this week.

Adani group stocks have lost billions in market value since the publication of the Hindenburg report in January 24, which alleged the company of fraudulent practices. The Adanis have denied the allegations.

The EPFO interest rate for 2021-22 was the lowest since 1977-78, when the EPF interest rate stood at 8 per cent.

“The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO’s) apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees (CBT) is likely to decide the rate of interest on EPF for 2022-23 at its two-day meeting beginning on Monday afternoon,” a source said.

Besides the interest rate, the CBT will discuss the annual accounts of the EPFO for 2022-23.

The trustees will also deliberate on the action taken by the EPFO on the Supreme Court order for giving a four-month window to Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 subscribers to opt for higher pension.

The EPFO has provided the facility to opt for higher pension to its subscribers till May 3, 2023.

The 8.5 per cent interest rate on EPF deposits for 2020- 21 was decided by the CBT in March 2021.

After the CBT decision, the interest rate on EPF deposits for 2022-23 will be sent to the Ministry of Finance for concurrence.

The EPFO provides the rate of interest only after it is ratified by the government through the finance ministry.

In March 2020, the EPFO had lowered the interest rate on provident fund deposits to a seven-year low of 8.5 per cent for 2019-20, from 8.65 per cent provided for 2018-19.