Members of the Central Provident Fund (CPF) who are non-Singapore citizens or non-permanent residents of Singapore will have their accounts closed from 1 April 2024.
The purpose of the CPF system is to help Singapore citizens and permanent residents of Singapore “retire with peace of mind”. Since 2003, foreigners working in Singapore have not been allowed to contribute to CPF.
The CPF board said that non-Singapore citizens or non-permanent residents of Singapore participation in schemes will cease and will be asked to transfer their savings to their personal bank accounts.
They have up to 31 March 2024 to do this, failing which their CPF accounts will be automatically closed, and 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 said that non-Singapore citizens or non-permanent residents of Singapore who wish to continue saving in the Lion City “may consider other options such as the Supplementary Retirement Scheme or through the purchase of relevant commercial investment products”.
It added that the CPF board will individually notify non-Singapore citizens or non-permanent residents of Singapore from March 2023, using the contact details that they provided to the board.