ECONOMYNEXT \u2014 The government is discussing plans to expand benefits from the Employees\u2019 Provident Fund (EPF), including a potential pension scheme, medical insurance, and housing projects for private sector workers, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe said.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the management of the fund, Samarasinghe said the administration aims to move beyond limiting EPF payouts strictly to retirement withdrawals.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though the Employees\u2019 Trust Fund is drawn every five years, the Employees\u2019 Provident Fund can only be taken at age 50 for women and age 55 for men, once they retire. But this shouldn\u2019t be limited merely to retirement,\u201d Samarasinghe said.<\/p>\n
The EPF, which operates alongside the 3 percent Employees\u2019 Trust Fund (ETF), collects a 20 percent total contribution and stands as Sri Lanka\u2019s largest single fund at over 6,000 billion rupees he said.<\/p>\n
Samarasinghe noted that the fund had historically been treated merely as a source for state borrowing or subjected to mismanagement, stock market losses, and treasury bond controversies. He stressed that the present government, formed through the backing of the trade union movement, would safeguard its assets while delivering higher returns.<\/p>\n
The discussions currently explore introducing a contributory pension model for private employees, modeled on the restoration of state pensions, as well as addressing sectors with low payouts such as the cooperative service, which employs over 20,000 workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a pension can be extended to private sector workers through a contributory pension model while safeguarding the assets of the Employees\u2019 Provident Fund, we are actively engaged in discussions to secure that pension,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Samarasinghe told workers not to panic over changes to the fund\u2019s management, adding that the state is acting with full understanding to protect employee rights. (Colombo\/Nov07\/2026)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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