Financial Repression Tracker

Rules that steer savings into government debt or hold returns below inflation, country by country.

Hold · Rate caps

Prohibition of interest on current accounts

What it is
Law or regulation prohibits interest on transaction deposits, including rules against indirect compensation.
Why it counts
Savers must supply zero-interest transaction balances, reducing banks' funding costs and allowing inflation to erode those balances.

When it was in force

  • United States: 1933 → 2011, historical
  • India: 2016 → 2024, historical; the rule may be older than the cited document; its end is not documented

2 examples

  1. United States

    1933 → 2011Historical

    Member banks could not pay interest on demand deposits until the Dodd-Frank repeal took effect.

    Federal Reserve Act section 19(i), added by Banking Act of 1933 section 11; Regulation QPrimary source
    “pay any interest on any deposit which is payable on demand”

    govinfo.gov (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    United States today: index 42.9

  2. India

    2016 → 2024Historical

    The rule may be older than the cited document · Its end is not documented · As cited: 2016-2024 (documented version)

    The directions prohibited interest on current accounts, with an exception for balances of deceased individual depositors.

    Master Direction DBR.Dir.No.84/13.03.00/2015-16, Interest Rate on Deposits Directions, section 5Primary source
    “No interest shall be paid on deposits held in current accounts.”

    rbi.org.in (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    India today: index 60.6

Examples and their dates reviewed .

Further reading

8 more on rate caps