Government Appoints High-Level Committee to Explore Merger of EPF and ETF in Historic Pension Reform Push

Sri Lanka's government has taken a landmark step towards potentially overhauling the country's social security framework, appointing a Senior Officials' Committee tasked with examining whether the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and the Employees' Trust Fund (ETF) should be brought under a single, unified management structure.

A Reform Decades in the Making

The move has been widely described as one of the most consequential proposed changes to Sri Lanka's retirement and workers' welfare system in recent memory. If the committee's findings support consolidation, millions of private sector employees across the island could see the way their retirement savings are managed fundamentally transformed.

The EPF, administered by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and the ETF, managed by the Employees' Trust Fund Board, have long operated as separate entities despite both serving as pillars of financial security for the country's working population. The question of whether a tripartite unified management model — bringing together government, employer, and employee representation — could deliver better outcomes for contributors has now been formally placed on the policy table.

What the Committee Will Examine

The Senior Officials' Committee has been mandated to assess the feasibility of merging or jointly administering the two funds under a coordinated governance framework. Among the key areas expected to fall under scrutiny are:

• The administrative and operational efficiencies that could be gained through consolidation
• The legal and regulatory changes that would be required to enable unified management
• The protection of existing contributor rights and benefit entitlements during any transition
• Models of tripartite governance that have succeeded in other countries

Significance for Sri Lankan Workers

The EPF is the largest superannuation fund in Sri Lanka, holding contributions from millions of private and semi-government sector employees. The ETF complements it by providing additional benefits including gratuity payments and welfare services. Together, these two funds represent a substantial portion of the retirement savings of Sri Lanka's workforce.

Any reform to how these funds are governed carries enormous implications for the financial futures of working Sri Lankans and their families.

Labour and economic analysts have for years raised concerns about governance transparency, investment returns, and administrative costs associated with running the two funds separately. Proponents of consolidation argue that a unified body with meaningful worker representation could address these shortcomings while reducing duplication of effort.

Next Steps

The committee is expected to consult widely with relevant stakeholders, including trade unions, employer federations, and financial regulators, before presenting its recommendations to the government. No timeline has yet been publicly confirmed for when the committee's findings will be submitted or when any subsequent policy decisions might be announced.

The appointment of the committee signals that the current administration is prepared to engage seriously with long-standing calls for social security reform, though observers caution that translating a feasibility study into actual legislative and institutional change will require sustained political will and broad consensus among all parties involved.