Concerns mount over retirement adequacy after RM145b pulled from Malaysia’s EPF

[KUALA LUMPUR] With billions of ringgit leaving Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in recent years due to the pandemic, there are worries that the depleted retirement savings of the lower-income groups could put a severe strain on the government’s public healthcare expenditure in the long run.

About RM145 billion (S$43.5 billion) was pulled from the EPF – the country’s state pension fund – after the government allowed four rounds of special withdrawals for those struggling with financial hardship caused by the pandemic.

As a result, the EPF, which manages the retirement savings of over 13 million members from the private sector, now has a little over half (51.5 per cent) of the members having less than RM10,000 in their accounts.