84. I have drawn your attention to the increasing share of debt service burden in the expenditure budget caused by rising government debt and exacerbated by the prevalence of high real interest rates. Most interest rates in the economy are now market determined. But, their movement downward is constrained by the rigidities inherent in the administered interest rates governing the contractual saving sphere i.e. Provident Fund and Small Savings Schemes. I have examined this issue very carefully. I find that the interest rates provided in all these schemes seldom exceeded consumer price inflation by more than 3 per cent between 1980 and 1998. Since then, this difference has risen to 6 to 8 per cent. Not only are such high real interest rates putting an unsustainable burden on both Central and State Governments but the resulting high cost of capital is also inhibiting economic growth all round. I am therefore reducing most administered rates by 1.5 per cent as of March 1, 2001. Government guarantee and tax incentives for these schemes will continue. For the future, I propose to explore a better system for the determination of these rates. I propose to appoint an Expert Committee to provide recommendations on this issue.