KUALA LUMPUR – The confusion over withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Account 1 under the i-Sinar initiative will be cleared on Wednesday, when details are announced.
“EPF will announce the details, how the process is, and others, on Wednesday,’’ Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz told Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme today.
Generally, he said, the contributors qualified to make withdrawals are those who have lost their jobs or saw their salaries impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a withdrawal limit of RM10,000 if their savings in Account 1 amount to less than RM90,000, while the limit is RM60,000 for those with more savings.
The amount cannot be withdrawn at once, he said.
On the RM3 billion allocation to finance the procurement of a Covid-19 vaccine that is said to be insufficient, he said the sum will be increased based on need.
“We will not hesitate to increase the allocation if necessary... this is not only for vaccines, but also all the necessary allocations related to the Health Ministry, especially funds to fight Covid-19.
“According to a study by the Health Ministry, and Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, about RM3 billion is needed to vaccinate 70% of Malaysians. That estimate was given based on their discussions with vaccine producers.”
On the allocation to the Special Affairs Department, which has been rebranded as the Community Communications Department, Tengku Zafrul said the total amount will only be known at Budget 2021’s committee stage.
“At the committee level, the Communications and Multimedia Ministry will make an announcement on the allocation... on how much is reduced.
“The Finance Ministry and Communications Ministry are still discussing... what we want to see and has been agreed to by Communications Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah... is a need to reduce the allocation.” – Bernama, November 28, 2020
