Closure of CPF accounts of foreigners will 'not pose liquidity issues' -- MOM

Approximately 300,000 non-residents will cease participation in the CPF schemes.

Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) system will remain stable despite an expected outflow of monies from the closure of accounts of foreigners, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) assured.

“The outflow of non-residents' CPF balances will not pose liquidity issues,” Senior Minister of State for Manpower, Koh Poh Koon, told the Parliament. 

According to Koh, approximately 300,000 non-residents will cease participation in the CPF schemes following the passage of the CPF (Amendment) Bill 2023.

Under the bill, CPF accounts that belong to non-residents will have their accounts automatically closed from 1 Apr 2024.

“Majority of these non-residents have low CPF balances, with approximately 70% of them having less than $5,000 in their CPF accounts,” Koh said.

“The median CPF balance is $1,500. Non-residents’ CPF balances are only about 1% of all CPF balances,” Koh added.

Koh added that ceasing the participation of non-residents in CPF will also result in more efficiency for the CPF Board.

“The CPF Board has separate manual processes to manage service requests from non-residents, such as undertaking additional steps to verify their identity as these non-residents do not have access to Singpass,” Koh explained.