KUALA LUMPUR: The government is in the final stages of fine-tuning the proposal to make it mandatory for new Employee Provident Fund (EPF) contributors aged 55 years and above to withdraw their savings periodically, instead of in a lump sum upon reaching 55 years
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister, said the government has no objection towards the proposal by EPF and will leave it to the pension fund to execute the proposal.
"I have no objection. The proposal is still in the final stages.
"However, if we listen to the statement made by EPF's chief executive officer Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan earlier, there are some restrictions, especially for those who have insufficient savings," he said when met after the 2023 International Social Wellbeing Conference, today.
EPF said yesterday that the pension fund did not yet rule out the possibility of making conditional or periodic withdrawals for retirees aged 55 and above mandatory for new contributors in the future.
Amir Hamzah said the periodic withdrawals would provide a better opportunity for contributors to manage their retirement funds.
On a separate matter, when asked about the financial implications for the government over the Federal Court's ruling to nullify amendments to the Pensions Act (Amendment) 2013, Anwar said the government must respect the court's decision.
"We have to respect the court's decision but we have a mechanism to protect the pensioners.
"We will announce the details (on the mechanism) soon."
Last month, the Federal Court dismissed an appeal by the government and the Public Service Department (PSD) director-general against a Court of Appeal decision to declare an amended pension law null and void.
Following this, the 2013 amendment to the law has been invalidated and the older version of the law would be restored.
Under the old scheme, a retiree's pension is revised based on the prevailing salary of incumbent civil servants in that grade.