Reluctant Anwar joins call for EPF withdrawals, cites failure to provide aid
Anwar, who is also the Pakatan Harapan chairperson and PKR president, said it is incumbent on the government to use its coffers to help the people but said this now appeared unlikely to...
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has joined calls for the government to allow people to withdraw from their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings, a position the Port Dickson MP acknowledged he was previously reluctant to support.
Anwar, who is also the Pakatan Harapan chairperson and PKR president, said it is incumbent on the government to use its coffers to help the people but said this now appeared unlikely to.
"After months have passed, it appears the government and Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz do not care about this. More and more people have raised their plight to me.
"As it appears the government has no way to overcome this failure, therefore, I support the immediate and unconditional withdrawal (of EPF) and unencumbered by bureaucratic restrictions.
"The government must also look into the plight of people who do not contribute to EPF," he said in a statement.
Anwar noted that he was quite reluctant to back such a policy in the past but now saw it necessary due to the desperate situation.
"As what I addressed in the Dewan Rakyat last year, I am quite reluctant to support this move as it will impact the people's future savings even though I know it (my position against withdrawal) is unpopular among the people," he said.
Anwar said he would continue to hear the plight of the people, particularly during his trips to Johor amid the state polls.
Key political parties pushing for more withdrawals
On March 6, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng also called to allow people to withdraw from their EPF after getting feedback during the Johor polls.
The call was a shift from DAP's previous position that it was the government's responsibility to provide aid and not for people to dip into their retirement savings.
Amid an economic downturn due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which started in 2020, the government has allowed people to dip into their EPF savings three times.
Zafrul, who has no party affiliation but is seen to be close with Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, warned further withdrawals will see many people retiring without sufficient savings.
Key political parties, particularly Umno, have pushed for the populist policy. Umno is now pushing for the fourth round of withdrawals.
EPF chief executive officer Amir Hamzah Azizan stressed that the institution's mandate was to help the working public save money for their old age and hoped there wouldn't be further withdrawals.
"I understand when we receive pressure like this. But we need to remember that the mandate given to EPF under our act (EPF Act 1991) is to help members save for their old age," he had said.
The EPF on March 2 announced a dividend of 6.1 percent for conventional savings and 5.65 percent for Syariah savings in 2021.
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