Manama: Kuwait’s government has turned down a proposal by a lawmaker to allocate a one-month pension to retired citizens in Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims.
MP Ahmad Mutai said that the annual bonus would be a good gesture towards retired nationals and urged the government to adopt his proposal.
However, Shaikh Salem Al Abdul Aziz, the finance minister, said that the government regularly contributed to the social pension funds with amounts that exceeded KD2.750 million (Dh3.571 million).
“Our contributions cover the pensions of retired citizens, including the military staff, the handicapped and women,” he said, quoted by local daily Al Jareeda. “The state does not spare any effort to assist Kuwait’s retired citizens in appreciation and recognition of their role in the nation-building process while they were holding posts. We also appreciate the good intentions of the MP. However, due to heavy financial constraints and the large contributions by the state budget to social pensions, we cannot endorse the proposal,” he said.
