KUALA LUMPUR – The median savings of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members was slashed by more than half after the past administration allowed withdrawals during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Addressing the lower House, Deputy Finance Minister I Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan noted that 8.1 million contributors had withdrawn RM145 billion during this period.
This left the median savings of all EPF members at RM8,100 today, compared to RM16,600 recorded in 2016.
The figure is more concerning when taking into account just the savings of the Malays and other Bumiputera ethnic groups.
Ahmad pointed out that the median savings of the seven million Malay contributors dropped significantly from RM16,900 in April 2020, before the first round of withdrawals was allowed, to just RM5,500.
As for the 1.4 million members comprising other Bumiputera groups, the minister said their median savings dropped from RM10,600 to a meagre RM3,300 during the same period.
“This is why the government decided not to allow further withdrawals,” he said in Parliament today.
“How are they supposed to make withdrawals? If we allow it, they only have (median savings of) RM5,500, RM3,300. That is why we decided against it. Anyway, Covid-19 is past.”
Ahmad, who is Pontian MP, was responding to Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman (Bachok-PN) who said that the public was eager about listening to policies involving EPF withdrawals.
The Umno secretary-general was earlier answering questions from Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah (Paya Besar-BN) on the government’s plans to increase EPF dividends to rebuild members’ savings.
To this, Ahmad said the determination of dividend rates are made based on capital market conditions, the economic environment, and EPF’s investment strategy. – The Vibes, February 16, 2023
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