THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on April 25, has condemned the unilateral decision of the finance ministry to reduce the interest rate on EPF to 8.7 percent from the unanimous recommendation of the tripartite Central Board of Trustees of the EPFO. This was revealed from the reply to the unstarred question no 96 dated April 25, 2016 in Lok Sabha. The CBT on February 16 had decided the rate as 8.8 percent. This decision of 8.8 percent was an interim one and some increase was expected when final decision was to be taken, as funds are available with the EPFO for this. But instead of further increase, the central government has reduced it further against the interests of the EPF subscribers. This retrograde action of the finance ministry is an integral part of its overall policy offensives against the EPFO. The CITU has demanded that the finance ministry's decision to reduce the interest rate be withdrawn and the rate of interest be enhanced from 8.8 percent in view of availability of enough funds.