KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) — The government does not intend to make it mandatory for Muslim contributors to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to contribute to Syariah savings automatically, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
However, he said that the government highly encourages them to do so through a series of incentives and explanations regarding Syariah financial instruments, which are hoped to increase the number of Muslim contributors in these types of savings.
In fact, he said that the EPF’s achievement in announcing a higher dividend rate of 6.30 percent for both conventional and Syariah savings for 2024 was also hoped to encourage Muslims to switch to the latter.
“Therefore, we do not intend to make it mandatory, but with what has been made evident (by EPF) and with the series of incentives and explanations, we hope the number (of contributors to Syariah savings) will increase.
“There is no policy to make it mandatory, but we do encourage it,” he said in reply to Datuk Mohd Isam Mohd Isa (BN-Tampin) during the Minister’s Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.
Mohd Isam wanted to know whether the government plans to make it mandatory for Muslim contributors to contribute to Syariah savings to prevent their savings from being questioned in terms of halal and haram.
The Prime Minister said Muslims need to be given more information and explanation on banking matters, such as interest-free banking and several Syariah instruments introduced in financial instruments to ensure they better understand the benefits of their choices.
In response to a supplementary question from Chiew Choon Man (PH-Miri) on whether the EPF’s recent achievements indicate a strong economic foundation for the country, Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said that the achievements were driven by investment confidence in the MADANI Economy framework.
“We must also express our appreciation to the EPF management for their performance, transparency, and efficiency, which have led to better records.
“As of December last year, 63 percent of EPF’s total investments were in the domestic market, amounting to RM782 billion, an 11 percent growth compared to 2023. At Bursa Malaysia, the increase was 12.9 per cent, which is a significant improvement,” he said.
Anwar added that the best achievements in the past seven years were also supported by policies introduced by the government, as well as several measures such as institutional reforms through the Public Finance and Fiscal Responsibility Act.
— BERNAMA