He said the withdrawal could be made from the Account 2 savings and control measures were being taken to ensure this would not affect members’ retirement savings.
“To qualify, EPF members must be below 55 years old and have received a letter with the status ‘selected’ for haj from Lembaga Tabung Haji
“The amount allowed to be withdrawn from a member’s Account 2 savings is the difference in total cost of the pilgrimage with the balance in the member’s Tabung Haji savings account and subject to a maximum of RM3,000 or the entire Account 2 balance, whichever is lower,” he said during the question and answer session in the Dewan Negara yesterday.
He said this in reply to a supplementary question from Senator Muhamad Mustafa who wanted to know whether the EPF savings could be used to perform haj pilgrimage.
Earlier, Othman said the EPF did not provide loan facilities for its members but allowed members to withdraw for specific purposes relating to retirement needs such as the housing withdrawal.