THE Employees Provident Fund (EPF) voluntary contribution limit will be increased to RM100,000 per year from RM60,000 previously, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said.

In tabling Budget 2023, the finance minister said this move would help increase people’s retirement savings.

In a written reply to parliament last year, Tengku Zafrul said Malaysians who withdrew from their EPF savings during the Covid-19 pandemic will have to work an additional four to six years to replenish their retirement fund.

“EPF withdrawals during the pandemic have reduced the percentage of those who have achieved minimum retirement savings (estimated at RM240,000) from 36% in 2020 to 27% this year,” he said.

Tengku Zafrul said although the i-Lestari, i-Sinar and i-Citra withdrawal schemes had given some relief to depositors, it had reduced their retirement funds significantly.

The schemes were introduced by the Perikatan Nasional government, led by Muhyiddin Yassin, to help Malaysians cope with the effects of the pandemic.

According to the Finance Ministry, the schemes saw depositors withdraw RM101 billion, which caused 6.1 million depositors to have less than RM10,000 in their retirement savings fund. – October 7, 2022.