Withdrawal of retirement savings approved to fund Hajj pilgrimage
The withdrawal limit was raised to cover 80 percent of the pilgrimage’s cost.
31 Jul 2019, 9:00 AM
Legal changes were approved on Wednesday to raise the limit of withdrawals from retirement savings to finance Hajj pilgrimages.
As pledged by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the Pension Act was previously revised in March to allow workers enrolled in the retirement scheme to cover 50 percent of the cost of a first-time Hajj pilgrimages from their savings.
Further amendments were submitted in May to raise the withdrawal amount to cover 80 percent of the payment. The official rate set by the government is about MVR65,000 (US$4,215).
The bill was passed unanimously at Wednesday’s sitting of parliament with 70 votes in favour.
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