Pension law revised to utilise savings for Hajj pilgrimage

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Sunday ratified amendments approved by parliament to the Pension Act last month.

The government-sponsored legislation was proposed to allow utilisation of the retirement pension scheme to fund Hajj pilgrimages.

The legal changes allows workers enrolled in the mandatory scheme to finance first-time Hajj pilgrimages and cover 50 percent of the cost from their savings.

It was a campaign pledge of President Solih and a target of his administration’s first 100-day action plan.

Performing the pilgrimage in Mecca at least once in a lifetime is obligatory upon all able-bodied Muslims.