Dhaka, Jan. 5 -- The government has backtracked on a decision taken last week to reduce returns on savings instruments, following criticism from various quarters.

In a notification issued on Sunday, the Internal Resources Division (IRD) under the Ministry of Finance said the existing profit rates on government savings instruments will remain unchanged until June 30.

On December 30, the IRD had announced a reduction in returns on national savings instruments, lowering the maximum rate to 10.59 per cent and the minimum to 8.74 per cent.

Under that decision, the profit rates on the Family Savings Certificate, the most popular instrument under the National Savings Directorate (NSD), and the Pensioners' Savings Certificate were each cut by ...