KOTA BHARU, Nov 5 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy), Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed is confident that the government will find the best way following the suggestion to allow contributors to withdraw funds from Account 1 of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
He said a careful study was needed on this as there were constraints with regard to Account 1 as it also involved retirees and targeted groups such as those who were already financially strained.
“We understand that about 70 per cent of the EPF contributors have savings of less than RM50,000 and hence, this matter is not easy to decide on.
“Prime Minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) has said and given an early picture, so we just have to wait for the Budget 2021 announcement tomorrow. There will definitely be an announcement on the matter,” he told reporters after the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly sitting, here, today.
On the same development, Mustapa acknowledged that some things were easy to decide on, while some issues required careful consideration and scrutiny.
Mustapa said EPF had 14.5 million contributors so far, but only eight million were active contributors.
“EPF is a retirement saving and since our lifespan is getting longer, we need to ensure that we have sufficient money in old age,” he added.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin said the government was studying the suggestion to allow certain contributors such as laid-off workers to withdraw funds from Account 1 of the EPF. – BERNAMA