The labour movement has called on the Government to raise the Central Provident Fund contributions of older workers in the upcoming Budget.

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) hopes that the CPF rates of workers aged above 50 to 55 will go up by one to two percentage points from 32.5 per cent.

NTUC deputy secretary-general Heng Chee How said on Wednesday morning at a press conference that the tight labour market conditions and more bargaining power of workers makes it a good time to raise CPF rates of workers.

Mr Heng said he also hoped that in the future the CPF rates of workers aged above 50 to 55 will be raised to 36 per cent, which is the rate for younger workers.

There is also a need to do a review on overall CPF rates of workers across different age groups to ensure that Singaporeans are well-prepared for retirement, said Mr Heng.

The last time that the Government set out new long-term targets for CPF was in 2003.

Mr Heng said that it is time to relook overall CPF rates as some of these targets have been met and surpassed.