THE government is finalising details on the withdrawal access for the proposed Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) flexible account, Deputy Finance Minister I Ahmad Maslan said.

He said there will be no withdrawal access from EPF accounts like previously.

“From next year, we will have the flexible account, but the method (of withdrawal) and the percentage of savings that can be put into the account has not been finalised. 

“However, the aim is to assist EPF members for withdrawals during emergencies,” he said in response to a query from Mohd Fasiah Mohd Fakeh (Sabak Bernam-BN) on targeted withdrawals by EPF contributors in the Dewan Rakyat today.

During the Budget 2024 tabling recently, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the accounts of EPF members will be restructured to strengthen retirement savings. Towards this end, the flexible account, a new EPF account to allow accessibility to members at any time, will be introduced.

Meanwhile, Ahmad said the EPF’s domestic investments are expected to increase to RM700 billion by the end of 2023, up 9% compared with last year.

He said the retirement fund will continue to prioritise domestic investments by channelling most of its annual allocated fund into the local market, including in the money market in local banks.

As of June, EPF investments in the domestic market totalled RM665 billion.

“EPF investments are guided by the fund allocations determined annually by its investment panel. For the 2018-2022 period, the EPF allocated an average of more than 80% of its annual fund for investments in the domestic market,” Ahmad said.

He added that in 2023, RM97 billion or 83% of its total annual fund has been allocated.

In 2022-2024, the EPF invested in, among others, fixed income instruments (45.5%), listed equities (42.5%), private equities (3.0%), and money market instruments (3.0%), said Ahmad. – Bernama, October 23, 2023.