KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — The government has the obligation to protect the people, especially those at risk such as contributors to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) who do not have enough savings for their old age, says Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

He said for that reason the government does not allow targeted EPF withdrawal, adding that even though the withdrawal is seen as an initiative that does not involve the government’s money or efforts, withdrawing from the EPF will reduce the people’s savings for retirement.

He said shrinking funds would limit EPF’s ability to diversify and strengthen its investment strategy to obtain better profits.

"This will have an impact on other contributors even if they do not withdraw their EPF contributions because if the overall return is low, then other contributors will also bear the impact,” he said in an Instagram video post today.

Rafizi said the government wanted to increase contributions and savings for old age instead of allowing withdrawals as demanded by some contributors, adding that the government opted for a way that benefits all parties instead of a shortcut that will create problems for future leaders to solve.

Rafizi said this in response to the walk-out staged by opposition MPs during the Dewan Rakyat sitting this morning when the motion to debate the issue of targeted EPF withdrawal was rejected. — Bernama