PETALING JAYA: About 4.7 million Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members had less than RM50 in their Akaun Fleksibel as of October last year, says the Finance Ministry.
The ministry said the figure represented 56% of the 8.4 million members who did not make any withdrawals from their Akaun Fleksibel due to the minimum RM50 withdrawal requirement, based on a study from May 2024 to October 2025.
The remaining 3.7 million (44%) of members who didn’t withdraw any money from their Akaun Fleksibel had sufficient savings to do so but did not make any withdrawal request.
The study, published in a research report in April this year, said the 8.4 million members represented 63% of the 13.3 million total EPF members.
The ministry also said the remaining 37% of total EPF members, below 55 years old, had made at least one withdrawal from their Akaun Fleksibel during this period.
“Members who made such withdrawals from the Akaun Fleksibel had used it mainly to support living needs and the management of daily expenses.
“The other purpose for withdrawals was for health treatment expenses and debt payments,” it said in a parliamentary written reply dated Thursday (July 9).
As of May 31 this year, it added that roughly RM19.87bil had been withdrawn through Akaun Fleksibel by EPF members while the current remaining Akaun Fleksibel balance of all members combined stood at RM14.36bil.
The ministry added that the rate of Akaun Fleksibel withdrawals from January to December last year had also gradually decreased to a monthly average of about RM0.44bil during this period.
“To ensure the resilience of EPF retirement funds, the government together with EPF will continue to take several steps to ensure sustainability of the Malaysians’ long‑term retirement plans.
“This includes maintaining the core savings structure, monitoring of Akaun Fleksibel withdrawal trends, strengthening members’ financial literacy, encouraging more voluntary contributions, practising a more prudent and sustainable investment management, as well as evaluating existing policies periodically.
“These steps are important to ensure that the balance between members’ short‑term financial needs and the adequacy of long‑term retirement savings continues to be preserved,” it added.
The ministry was responding to a question from William Leong Jee Keen (PH-Selayang) on the current Akaun Fleksibel withdrawal trends of EPF members, and the steps being taken to ensure the resilience of EPF retirement funds for the people.
