On November 16, Malaysia s Employees Provident Fund (
EPF) introduced a new policy (i-Sinar) that allows around 8 million provident fund members aged 55 or younger who have lost their jobs or experienced a significant income reduction because of the
COVID-19 pandemic to withdraw a portion of their Account 1 balances. (The
EPF provides two types of individual accounts for members younger than age 55: Account 1 that funds retirement and Account 2 that may be accessed before retirement for education, designated critical illnesses, a home purchase, and other approved expenses.) The new policy follows the introduction of another early withdrawal option in April (i-Lestari) that allows fund members aged 55 or younger to withdraw (for any reason) 50 ringgits (