Monday, March 16, 2009

EPF to pay only 4.5% dividends

The word is that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is going to declare only 4.5% dividends for the 2008 period.

I'm quite certain this will raise the ire of many, many working Malaysians who work hard for an honest living.

The capital markets did take a beating in 2008 shrinking, if memory serves me, by about 40% or so in value.

The EPF board is now required to be super-transparent in tabling the basis for arriving at the paltry 4.8% dividends. The hardworking Malaysian workers require an explanation.

No opaque postures. No nebulous statements. No fudging.

Open the books.

EPF's financial results and, it's dividend policy is not a state secret. Nor should it ever be regarded as such.

It's the money that belong to all Malaysian workers who've worked hard and, will depend on the EPF after they retire from active work. So, let's be open about the performance basis.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

good update on epf rate

flyer168 said...

de minimis,

Although the returns of 4.5% is a farcry to what we had in the 80s & 90s....

It is still better than the 3.2%...but which is now at less than 1.0% for Bank FDs.

Let us hope there are enough funds left for our EPF members reaching retirement age (within this next 3 years & beyond!) to withdraw for their hard earned retirement plans....

It happened in Australia during the 1997 downturn....

Where eligible retirees (after paying their taxes for 30 years & more!) could only withdraw from their "Golden Handshake/Super Annuation Fund as "Weekly/Monthly Pension" instead of "Lump Sum" which would be "Taxed."

Cheers.

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Anonymous said...

Don't worry the government can do magic to shore up the income for EPF so that they can distribute more dividend next year. Recently, Bank Negara has instructed all the local banks to issue bonds so as to increase their capital and increase the percentage of NPL allowable. Do you know who are the investors and how much coupon yield per annum they will be paying for minimum investment of 10 years? For your information, the investors are EPF, PNB, Khazanah and government linked investors and the coupon yield is an average of 8.5% p.a. So, I don't see why they cannot pay 4.5% dividends while the FD is only 2.5% p.a

de minimis said...

Excellent comments. I'm certain the EPF guys would be very relieved that segments of the Malaysian society will be very accepting and understanding.

Anonymous said...

Damn! Why do they always pay soooo much???

My CPF money in Singkapoh only earn me on average 2% - 3% only. They should be like Singapore CPF... give little bit only!


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