Matching grants can boost EPF funds 28 Feb 2021 / 21:46 H.
DESPITE 2020 being a bad year in terms of the pandemic and economic downturn, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), a retirement savings fund responsible for ensuring members’ retirement wellbeing, has been able to declare a dividend of 5.2% for conventional savings and 4.9% for syariah savings for 2020, with a total payout of RM47.64 billion.
And this could be the main reason why it had earlier announced its readiness to allow an unconditional withdrawal of EPF funds for those who are mostly affected by the economic downturn brought about by the pandemic.
The reason why the retirement fund is able to dole out a respectable dividend is because its investments overseas and on fixed income instruments in 2020 had produced good returns.
Easier: The decision to remove conditions on i-Sinar eligibility was taken into consideration after public feedback.
PETALING JAYA: The move to relax the i-Sinar withdrawal facility will bring much relief to those working in sectors hardest hit by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, say economic analysts.
“This is a wise move. When the original requirement was stipulated, we could not have guessed that a second round of the movement control order (MCO) was implemented, ” said Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST) University vice-chancellor and economist Prof Datuk Dr John Antony Xavier.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Aziz said the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is working towards removing all conditions for the i-Sinar withdrawal facility.