KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — The government has agreed to raise the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Account 1 contributions by RM500 for members aged between 40 and 54 years with less than RM10,000 in EPF savings, involving an allocation of RM1 billion, said Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"This programme will benefit nearly two million EPF members," he said when presenting Budget 2023 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The government will also increase the i-Saraan matching contribution to RM300 from RM250 previously to encourage more self-employed people to save in the EPF.
"An allocation of RM30 million will be provided to benefit more than 100,000 contributors," Anwar said.
He stressed the government is committed to helping contributors rebuild their retirement savings to ensure that their existing savings will be sufficient to finance retirement.
"People had to sacrifice their savings for their old-age several times in order to meet their living needs during the pandemic. Most of them use the income to support themselves while their savings for their old age were already low," Anwar explained.
The government plans to expand the scope of tax relief for life insurance premiums or takaful covering voluntary contributions to the EPF to up to RM3,000.
— Bernama
