T C Goh
KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) has described the 5.35 per cent dividend rate declared by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for Conventional Savings for 2022, and a 4.75pc for Syariah Savings, as acceptable.
Its President Tan Sri T C Goh also hoped that with a better returns expected post pandemic, the EPF can afford to pay higher dividends for its members in the following year.
He said while the two categories of dividends were comparatively higher than last year’s inflation rate of 3.3pc (between 2.05pc and 1.45pc), they were nonetheless comparatively lower than the 5.8pc inflation rate, for food items, for the same period (between 0.45pc and 1.05pc). This indicated that the present Government must effectively address the issue of high cost of living facing the people.
In a statement issued today, Goh, who is also President of the Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS), also reminded EPF members to be prudent with their savings, especially advising them not to withdraw it before reaching retirement age, unless it was absolutely necessary to do so.
He also encouraged them to top up their EPF contribution voluntarily if their financial capacity allows it, so that they could have better financial security, when they retire later.
Noting that the 5.35pc dividend rate declared by the EPF was the second lowest in the past 10 years, he nonetheless pointed out that it was still comparatively higher than the interest rates of fixed deposit savings of various commercial banks, as well as The National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN).
He went on to note that all these years the EPF has succeeded in maintaining its goal of declaring dividend rates which were higher than the inflation rate.
He added that EPF members too realized that in the past one year, the global economy has been sluggish, coupled with the dire financial impact of a persisting Covid-19, domestically, it certainly has had an impact on EPF’s combined returns from its investments overseas.
He also acknowledged that the Government’s consents for the EPF members to withdraw their savings previously, during the pandemic period, had inevitably affected their savings, as well as EPF funds and investments, to a certain degree.
Goh also praised EPF for prudent management of its funds which enabled it to maintain steady returns from its investments, and to continue to declare a dividend rate that’s acceptable to its members.
He was convinced that with the global and domestic economy recovering steadily, post pandemic, EPF with its prudent fund management and advantages would be able to perform better and to declare higher dividend rates to its members in the coming year.
