New Delhi, March 4 -- On a day when all newspapers, including business dailies, had little else but war news and its unsettling impact on oil prices, markets, exports, the economy and so on, news reports that India's Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has decided to retain its interest rate on PF deposits at 8.25% struck a welcome note of cheer.

The rate, which was raised to 8.25% for 2023-24 from 8.15% the previous year, has been retained at that level since. For its more than 70 million active subscribers, this is good news. It indicates that the EPFO has not responded to a short-term rate cycle, but has been guided by commercial principles: the returns it has generated for its subscribers from its investments.

This is impo...