Nearly 60k contributors apply for EPF’s support facility

 

A total of 59,230 contributors have applied for the Employees' Provident Fund's (EPF) Account 2 Support Facility (FSA2) as of yesterday since it opened on April 7.

However, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan (above) said only 27,705 are eligible for it.

"Those who are not eligible are because they are under 40 years old, as we have said that only those aged 40 and above are eligible," he told the media after visiting the Accountant-General's Department today.

FSA2 is a facility aimed at helping EPF members obtain personal financing from banking institutions.

So far, two banks are participating in FSA2 - namely MBSB and Bank Simpanan Nasional.

FSA2 involves a maximum financing of RM50,000 (subject to EPF Account 2 balance) and a repayment period of up to 10 years.

Among the stipulated conditions is that the applicant must have a minimum amount of RM3,000 in their EPF Account 2.

As of now, withdrawals from EPF Account 2 are permitted for purchasing homes, financing education, health, certain protection plans such as chronic illness and a maximum of RM3,000 to cover Hajj costs.

"We don't say that if we don't allow it, then there will be no withdrawal from EPF. The EPF funds can still be withdrawn.

“There are five areas for a member to withdraw from EPF Account 2 while Account 1 is not allowed to be withdrawn because it is specifically for retirement purposes," he said.

Titiwangsa MP Johari Abdul Ghani was previously reported to have said that it is easier to allow people to withdraw their EPF savings than to use them as collateral for loan applications.

Meanwhile, Ahmad said as of Dec 31, the total assets and liabilities that have been accounted for in the Federal Government's Integrated Financial Management and Accounting System amounted to RM2.85 trillion.

He said the Accountant-General's Department is currently still researching and looking for federal government assets in the form of investments, property and various other forms.

"This year, we may get another RM30 billion in assets to be accounted for," he said, with a majority of the assets being in the country.

- Bernama