Interest rates for Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings in the Ordinary Account (OA) will remain at 2.5 per cent from Jan 1 to March 31 next year.

The CPF Board said in a statement on Monday that the computed interest rate, which is based on interest rates of major local banks during a three-month period from August to October, worked out to only 0.21 per cent per annum. This is lower than the minimum 2.5 per cent provided for under the CPF Act.

In addition, an extra 1 per cent interest will continue to be paid on the first $60,000 of a person's combined savings, including up to $20,000 from the OA. This extra interest earned under the OA will go into the person's Special or Retirement account.

Meanwhile, the concessionary interest rate for HDB mortgage loans, which is pegged at 0.1 percentage point above the CPF interest rate for the OA, will remain unchanged at 2.6 per cent for the January to March period.