Fourth time’s the charm: Najib pushes again for more EPF withdrawals

Former prime minister Najib Razak today called yet again for the government to allow further withdrawals under the Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) i-Citra scheme, saying this was to meet the needs of the people.

Speaking during the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat, Najib, the Pekan MP, said this would be the fourth time he had made the call.

“It doesn’t matter who wants to claim the credit,” he was reported as saying by Bernama.

“As long as the request for this final withdrawal, which people are really looking forward to, can be granted by the government immediately.”

Najib has been at the forefront of calls for the government to allow further EPF withdrawals despite warnings by economists and the EPF itself that the country’s social protection had been pushed to the limit after the withdrawals made during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The EPF said in December that while it was understandable that withdrawals were allowed during the virus lockdowns, this should not be made a practice during natural calamities as it is bound by laws guiding how members’ contributions are managed.

“The scale and impact of the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic and the recent natural disasters have pushed the country’s social protection to its limits, and the approach of using EPF savings during emergencies will have a severe impact at a time when members are left with insufficient savings for their retirement, coupled with other uncertainties such as rising healthcare costs,” it had said.

Najib’s request today for a “final withdrawal” echoes a previous call he had made around that same time in launching an attack on Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz for refusing to open EPF funds under the pretext of the floods that hit many parts of the country late last year.

“Don’t listen to the advice of the outdated PN finance minister,” he said, referring to the previous Perikatan Nasional government.

“Listen to the people. A final special withdrawal. After that, focus on rebuilding the savings of EPF contributors with low balance. There are many ways.”

Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat today, Najib said he had received requests on social media asking him to raise the matter of further i-Citra withdrawls during the debate session.

Over the past year, the government had introduced schemes such as i-Lestari, i-Sinar and i-Citra allowing EPF members to withdraw their savings.

But the EPF said in December that the move had led to the outflow of RM101 billion involving 6.1 million members, leaving them with less than RM10,000 in their accounts. Of these, 3.6 million had less than RM1,000, it said.