Government Greenlights The Special RM10,000 EPF Withdrawal

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members will be able to make a withdrawal of RM10,000 from their accounts soon. It is the fourth of such withdrawal program by EPF after i-Lestari, i-Sinar, and i-Citra since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Today’s announcement came after months of pressure from various parties and members of the public who are looking for additional financial aid to help them brace the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Ismail did not provide any specific details regarding the new withdrawal program as he noted that further information will be announced by EPF and the Ministry of Finance soon.

Earlier this week in Parlimen, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul said that 58% of EPF members have opted for the three special withdrawal programs that we have mentioned earlier involving RM101 billion. He further added an additional RM63 billion might be needed in order to deliver the new RM10,000 withdrawal program.

Hence, EPF may have to sell its overseas assets in order to fund the program even though the current market condition is quite uncertain according to the minister. Now that the program has officially been greenlit, looks like the minister’s concerns have been brushed off altogether.

(Source: Ismail Sabri / Twitter.)