THE government will make several important announcements soon, including on additional income opportunities for the B40 group so that the people do not have to dip into their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings.

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said at the same time, the government will look into policies and programmes, through the 12th Malaysia Plan mid-term review, which targets wage growth.

“This is because the government must have a clear framework in the next two to five years to ensure wage increases are not left to market forces. All these are for the medium and long term,” he said after the kick-off session of the “Strategic dialogue with the economy minister: Empowering industries to drive economic growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era” today.

Rafizi said it is the government’s responsibility to ensure Malaysians have some savings during their old age.

“We need to be careful with EPF withdrawals, although I understand that for some families, it can help for now; the cost they have to pay in the future is high,” he said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government is finding ways to ease the people’s financial stress without them having to withdraw their EPF savings.

Rafizi also said the impact of the increase in the cost of living can be handled better by households if subsidy programmes are successfully channelled to targeted groups.

“The decision-making process for eligibility is underway and this is one of the biggest decisions in the national economy… we must be able to determine household income and the number of households,” he said.

Rafizi said the special task force to facilitate business will be improved with the hope of making Malaysia a more competitive market and business-friendly destination.

“The platform will be chaired by me and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali,” he said. – Bernama, February 10, 2023.