Deputy Finance Minister I Mohd Shahar Abdullah says the RM101 billion in withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) i-Sinar, i-Lestari, and i-Citra facilities will not impact the domestic financial market.
“The withdrawals of RM101 billion under the EPF i-Sinar, i-Lestari, and i-Citra facilities will not affect the domestic financial markets.
“The Strategic Asset Allocation method is being implemented to cover all withdrawals made during the withdrawal eligibility period,” he told Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi (PAS-Tumpat) about the Finance Ministry’s strategic plans to improve people’s retirement security after the introduction of various withdrawal schemes reduced their savings.
He denied that the withdrawals had harmed investments in Malaysian Government Securities (MGS), an industry in which the EPF is a major player.
On Oct 31, the EPF announced that RM101 billion had been disbursed to more than 7.4 million members, or about half of its total membership, with 6.1 million members having less than RM10,000 in their EPF accounts as a result of the withdrawals.
“The government would study other methods to ensure the social safety net for the people’s retirement would return to the appropriate level,” he says.
To improve social protection, he says, “The EPF would introduce a new withdrawal facility that would allow them to buy insurance or takaful products for individual and family coverage in the event of critical illnesses or death, as announced in Budget 2022.”
