SINGAPORE – About 300,000 Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts belonging to foreigners who are neither Singapore citizens or permanent residents will be required to close by March 31, 2024.
These accounts were set up before 2003 – when non-citizens or permanent residents were disallowed from making voluntary contributions to their CPF accounts. After the deadline, they will be shut down automatically.
In a statement 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.”
Some of these CPF accounts happen to include people who have relinquished their citizenship or permanent residency.
Most of them have low balances, and more than 200,000 of them have less than $5,000 accrued over the years, as Singapore adopted various changes in its CPF contribution policy for foreigners.
Before 1987, CPF contributions were compulsory for all employees working in the country, regardless of nationality.
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That eventually moved to a system where those on work permits could make CPF contributions voluntarily, instead of having to make compulsory contributions to their CPF accounts.
This was later extended to all foreigners working in Singapore in 1995, regardless of the type of work pass they held, before they were stopped from making any voluntary contributions in 2003.
Foreigners who plan to continue saving in Singapore can consider other options, including the Supplementary Retirement Scheme or commercial investment products, said the statement.
For more information, people can refer to the CPF Board website at cpf.gov.sg/AccountClosure
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
