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 (LRIS), which was first accepted by the Government back in 2016.
With PM Lawrence Wong highlighting this issue in a recent interview by Lianhe Zaobao earlier this year, I hope 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 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 or the 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 PM Lawrence Wong mentioned in his round-up speech last week that “we will certainly continue to review, fine-tune 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 real cost to Singaporeans’ retirement savings.
