KWSP has issued a statement supporting the non-extension of the i-Citra withdrawal plan!
According to a statement issued by the Employees Provident Fund Board (KWSP), the Board supports the non-extension of the i-Citra withdrawal plan in order to ensure that members have adequate pensions. There is no provision in the Provident Fund Act that allows members to withdraw their money in the event of a natural disaster.
The Employees Provident Fund Board is bound by the Employees Provident Fund Act 1991, which states that the first account or 70% of a member’s savings must be used for retirement, while the second account or 30% of the savings can be used for other withdrawal users.
The Provident Fund Board emphasizes that the i-Sinar and i-Lestari schemes introduced in 2020 are exceptional cases and that these measures are intended to give the population an emergency cash flow during the Action Control Order and during the economic downturn. As of October 2021, members have withdrawn RM101 billion under the i-Lestari, i-Sinar and i-Citra schemes.
Today there are 6.1 million members with less than RM10,000 in CPF deposits and 3.6 million members with even less than RM1,000. Of these, 4.4 million or 54% of indigenous members have less than RM10,000 and 2 million or 25% of indigenous members have less than RM1,000. This situation is very worrying.
It is also mentioned in the message that the outflow of CPF deposits will affect the status of CPF Board as a retirement savings institution and trustee for members’ future retirement. The CPF Board has the responsibility to look after the equitable interests of all its members. There are millions of members who have not used their CPF deposits and they hope that they can get better reporting to ensure their retirement.
In addition, the PF Board is also the main pillar of the domestic capital and financial markets and a decline in the people’s trust in the PF Board will lead to massive withdrawals of deposits by members and will have a negative impact on the domestic market.
