Zahid: EPF management sings a different tune from Zafrul

 

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamid has joined the chorus of Umno leaders urging the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to relax the conditions for members to withdraw their savings through the i-Sinar facility.

He said the EPF’s management clearly has a “very different tone” compared to the high hopes given by Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz during the latter’s winding-up speech for the Budget 2021 proposal’s policy stage debates.

“At a time when people are desperate and face the pandemic’s extraordinary conditions, it is very sensible that we facilitate and meet their needs.

“Therefore, I urge EPF to make it easier for contributors to withdraw their savings without imposing any conditions and provide the option of a lump sum withdrawal up to RM10,000,” he said in a statement today.

Umno had been lobbying for more to be allowed to withdraw their retirement savings to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic’s economic impact, culminating in Zafrul’s announcement in his winding-up speech.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

On Wednesday, the EPF announced two categories of members eligible to apply to make withdrawals through the i-Sinar facility.

Generally, EPF contributors seeking to make a withdrawal must have either lost their source of income or prove that their total income had reduced by 30 percent since March 1.

Withdrawals will have to be spread out over a maximum of six months. The maximum that can be withdrawn on the first payment is between RM5,000 and RM10,000, depending on eligibility.

There is also a withdrawal cap of RM10,000 for those with RM100,000 and below in their EPF Account 1, or 10 percent of their account balance, up to a maximum of RM60,000, for those with RM100,000 and above in Account 1.

Several Umno leaders have voiced disagreement over the conditions. - Mkini