Since the bank rates have gone up mainly this year, the board can consider revising interest rate for 2007-08 later, he said. Fernandes said the board also discussed the government’s suggestion to invest 5 per cent of the corpus in the stock market but no decision was taken.

However, representatives of the Left-affiliated trade unions rejected the decision of the board, while demanding at least 9.5 per cent interest rate. “At a time when banks are paying even up to 10.5 per cent interest rate annually, government should come forward to support the board to pay 9.5 per cent interest rate by raising administrative rate of interest on Special Deposit Scheme (SDS),” said United Trade Union Centre Lenin-Sarani General Secretary Sankar Sen.

Meet on indirect taxes from today

New Delhi: Top tax officials from all over the country will discuss ways to strengthen the indirect tax machinery and measures to improve compliance at a two-day conference to be inaugurated by finance minister P Chidambaram here on Tuesday. The All India Annual Conference of chief commissioners and directors general of customs and central excise will deliberate on dispute resolution, Goods and Service tax and emerging challenges before customs, among other things. The conference will act as a catalyst for providing important contribution to strengthening the Indirect Tax administration, it said.

During the the first quarter of the current fiscal, the government has collected Rs 48,732 crore through customs and excise duties, up 12.7 per cent from Rs 43,237 crore collected in the same period last year.