Measures to protect pensioners to be announced soon, says Anwar

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government will come up with measures to protect pensioners, following the Federal Court's decision which invalidated amendments to the pension law.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said the government is working on the details of the mechanism and will make an announcement soon.

"We'll deal with it. We have to respect the decision of the Federal Court.

We are having a mechanism to protect pensioners and will announce it soon," he told reporters after launching the International Social Wellbeing Conference 2023 in Kuala Lumpur today.

On June 27, the Federal Court ruled that legal amendments made in 2013, which introduced a new pension scheme that adjusts pension payments every year by a 2% increment, were less favourable to pensioners and unconstitutional.

The decision meant that the older version of the law containing the old pension adjustment scheme would be restored.

Meanwhile, Anwar said the government was open to a suggestion by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to make it mandatory for new EPF members in the future to withdraw their savings periodically instead of a lump sum on reaching 55 years old.

"I'm open to it," Anwar said.

However, the prime minister said certain constraints had to be taken into consideration, including the fact that the savings of some EPF members were too small.

Yesterday, EPF chief executive officer Amir Hamzah Azizan was reported as saying that the existing option of periodic withdrawals on a monthly basis was seen as offering members a better way to manage their retirement funds.

He said making periodic withdrawals would also allow members to continue enjoying annual dividends for their remaining savings in EPF.