The Social Security Fund (FSS) announced Tuesday that the public consultation period for a non-mandatory central provident fund system begins today and will end on June 13, in which four consultation sessions will be held, two on April 28 and May 7 respectively for employers and two on May 10 and 17 respectively for the general public – to garner their opinions.
The fund’s administrative committee announced the public consultation process at a press conference.
FSS President Ip Peng Kin said that after the consultation ends, the committee will sort out the opinions it collected and submit its report to the Standing Council on Social Concerted Action for discussion. However, he did not specify the exact timeline for drafting legislation with regard to the establishment of the new system.
The committee will propose two options: the first one involves employers and employees contributing an equal share to the provident fund. According to the press conference, the committee suggests that employers and employees each contribute a minimum of five percent of employees’ monthly salaries to the fund. The employee can opt to withdraw the money when he or she reaches 60 or wait until the age of 65.
The second option is about individual contributions where residents aged at least 18 can pay into the fund regardless of their employment status, where their minimum monthly contribution is 500 patacas. However, if they want to contribute more, the amount can only be raised in multiples of 100.
It is possible for employees to pay. However, public servants would only be allowed to take part in the second option.
Ip also said that the non-mandatory central provident fund will be set up for a trial period of three years. He said that afterwards the committee will review it to decide if it needs to be changed to a mandatory fund.(macaunews/ macaupost)
