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PETALING JAYA: About 32% of contributors to the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) have a balance of around RM1,000 in their Account 1, revealed Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz.
In an interview on TV3 last night, Tengku Zafrul also said that 10% have a balance of around RM5,000 or less on their Account 1.
Speaking on the issue of EPF withdrawals, he said a long-term solution needed to be found for taxpayers as the data showed that 42% of taxpayers have less than RM5,000 in their Account 1.
“This is a structural issue that must be resolved because social safety nets are important, the government has to think in the medium and long term.”
The government is allowing those who lost their jobs during the pandemic to make specific withdrawals of RM500 per month for up to 12 months from their Account 1 starting in January.
But, Tengku Zafrul said, there are calls for more withdrawals to be allowed and the ministry has discussed this with the EPF.
“After hearing people’s appeals, we agreed to increase (the number of people who are allowed to withdraw their money) so that more can (benefit),” he said, adding that EPF will make an announcement today.
Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said that the M40 group will benefit from the budget through allocations for incentives amounting to RM10 billion.
“The incentives for the M40 in the budget have not been reduced.
“For example, we lowered the personal income tax rate for those earning between RM 50,000 and RM 70,000 a year by 1%. Second, we reduced contributions to the EPF from 11% to 9%, ”he said.
