THE government will allow for a RM10,000 special withdrawal from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced today.

He said the decision was made after evaluating the current situation and needs of the people.

“The government has listened and taken into account the request of the people.

“The government has agreed to allow a special withdrawal of RM10,000 from EPF,” he said during a short press conference today, which was telecast live by television channels.

Ismail said the details on how to make the withdrawal will be announced by the Finance Ministry and EPF soon.

Ismail said while it is important to consider the need for retirement savings, the decision is a compromise the government had reached while taking into consideration the economic needs of those who have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is a hard decision as it involves retirement savings. It is a compromise to balance the needs of today and future savings.

“Though we allow for this special withdrawal, contributors should not make the withdrawal unless completely necessary,” he said.

Previously, the government introduced three schemes – i-Citra, i-Lestari, and i-Sinar facility – which allowed contributors to withdraw from EPF.

The three schemes benefitted 7.34 million contributors who withdrew a total of RM101 billion.

EPF, which has been against allowing for more withdrawal from the fund, said that the three facilities have led to 6.1 million members now having less than RM10,000 in their regiment fund.

Of that number, 3.6 million members have less than RM1,000.

Bumiputeras made up 78% of the withdrawal applicants. As a result, 4.4 million – or 54% of Bumiputera members – now have less than RM10,000. In addition, two million – or 25% of Bumiputera members – have less than RM1,000.

Putrajaya has been under pressure to approve another withdrawal from EPF following the request from the public as well as politicians from both sides of the divide.

Among those who have called on the government to allow for the one-off withdrawal was former prime minister Najib Razak, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Yesterday, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the EPF dividend rate could have been higher at 6.7%, compared with the 6.1% announced recently, if there were no outflows of savings by its members. – March 16, 2022.