CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND CONTRIBUTIONS (Interest on monthly basis)

Mr N. Govindasamy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Labour if he will ascertain from the Central Provident Fund Board whether the Board considers it feasible to compute interest on contributions not on a yearly but on a monthly basis as practised by the Post Office Savings Bank.

Mr Sia Kah Hui (for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Labour): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Central Provident Fund Board could set up the machinery to calculate the interest on Central Provident Fund accounts on a monthly or even daily basis if the Ordinance required it, but the administration of the Fund would be much more complicated and expensive than it is at present. A change of the method in calculation would not make more interest available for distribution to the members of the Fund and it is the Board's view that the present system is both simple and equitable.