SINGAPORE: Effective April 1, 2024, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts of some 300,000 foreigners who are not Singapore citizens or permanent residents will be automatically closed.
Although since 2003, foreigners working in the Republic were not allowed to contribute to CPF, there were still about 300,000 non-citizens and non permanent residents with CPF accounts.
It is understood, they were people who received their contributions from employers or made voluntary contributions before 2003 to CPF and also those who gave up their Singapore citizenship or PR status.
According to Central Provident Funds Board website titled “Account closure for non-Singapore Citizens and non-Permanent Residents”, it had asked those non-citizens and non-PRs to close their CPF account and transfer their CPF savings to their bank account. They are required to close by March 31, next year.
The core objective of the move is for CPF system to cater to the retirement, housing and healthcare needs of all Singapore Citizens (SC) and Permanent Residents (PR).
Under the renunciation of Singapore citizenship or permanent residency before 1 March 2024, CPF said” As soon as you are no longer a SC or PR, you may close your CPF account and transfer your CPF savings to your bank account at any time. If not, your CPF account will be automatically closed on April 1, 2024.
In statement issued on Wednesday, the CPF Board said” Any remaining savings will cease to earn the prevailing CPF interest rate. The remaining savings can still be transferred to their bank accounts at any time after that.”
CPF Board said that most have low CPF balances with more than two-thirds of them having less than S$5,000 (RM17,000) in their CPF account.
It added that non-Singaporeans and non-permanent residents who wish to continue saving in Singapore may consider other options such as the Supplementary Retirement Scheme or through the purchase of relevant commercial investment products.
The CPB Board said it will individually notify non-Singapore citizens and non-permanent residents from March 2023, using the contact details that they had provided.
Singapore citizens and permanent residents are not affected by the move.
The purpose of the CPF system is to help Singapore Citizens (SC) and Permanent Residents (PR) retire with peace of mind.
