Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Chairman, on the topic of enhancing CPF returns, I would like to, once again, take the chance to raise concerns that I have previously voiced out in Parliament in each of the past four years and also earlier this year during the Budget debate. While I have been going on like a broken record, I hope we can urgently implement the Lifetime Retirement Investment Scheme, which was first accepted by the Government back in 2016.
With Prime Minister Lawrence Wong highlighting this issue in a recent interview by Lianhe Zaobao earlier this year, I hope that the Minister will not respond to this cut once again by saying that he will provide updates when ready, but that he is now ready to provide updates. I am sure Singaporeans and the civil servants working at on the scheme alike will appreciate a deadline from the Minister.
Moreover, if the Government is not confident that our own investment entities, be it Temasek Holdings or GIC, can produce better risk-adjusted returns that are better than CPF returns over the long term, then we are in serious trouble. I appreciate that Prime Minister Wong mentioned in his round-up speech last week that we will certainly continue to review, finetune and improve the CPF system. But I hope the Government can do so expeditiously and set a deadline for this, as the longer the delay, the higher the opportunity cost and the real cost to Singaporeans’ retirement savings.
Ministry of Manpower
6 March 2025
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=budget-2612
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 