Noting that this would be the fourth special withdrawal scheme after i-Lestari and i-Sinar in 2020 and i-Citra in July last year, it said a total of RM101 billion had been withdrawn under the first three facilities.

“As the country rebuilds the economy and more people have returned to work, EPF believes that this should be the last facility allowed under the special withdrawal initiative.

“EPF would like to reiterate its concerns around members’ retirement adequacy and hopes this will be a precursor towards the rebuilding of retirement savings and reforming of the nation’s social security system,” it said in a statement today.

It added that it would announce further details on the application for withdrawal and payment mechanisms soon.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced another special RM10,000 EPF withdrawal facility.

He said the government decided to allow this because it was aware that many people were still struggling from the effects of the pandemic.

“Although we have allowed another withdrawal, I appeal to the contributors to maintain their savings unless their situation is really urgent,” he said.

There have been growing calls for Putrajaya to allow more EPF withdrawals for those struggling to make ends meet.

Former prime minister Najib Razak had been leading the calls for the additional withdrawals and proposed ways the retirement fund could replenish members’ savings.

More recently, even opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who had been reluctant to support the move, urged the government to allow another round of withdrawals.

EPF members have been able to access up to RM71,000 each from their retirement funds through the three previous withdrawal programmes, amounting to RM101 billion.

Following this, EPF said that a total of 6.1 million members, or 48% of its members under the age of 55, now had less than RM10,000 in savings in their retirement funds.