SUVA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The banks in Fiji have taken measures to recover their business affected by COVID-19.
According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) on Monday, ANZ Bank (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) has removed loan approval fees for new customers while HFC Bank (Home Finance Company Bank) no longer charges administration fees on first home loans.
ANZ also confirmed that it will also allow waiver on loan restructuring fees for commercial customers on a case-by-case basis.
Meanwhile, commercial banks in the island nation have raised their provisions for high-risk loans given the mounting deferment of payments due to COVID-19.
Association of Banks in Fiji Chair Rakesh Ram said that as of September last year, banks in Fiji have provisioned 100 million Fijian dollars (about 49.2 million U.S. dollars) as bad or doubtful debts.
As of December 31, 2020, total liquidity in the banking system stood at 836.8 million Fijian dollars (about 411.9 million U.S. dollars).
Ram said that the above-mentioned measures are meant to assist Fijians access loans while also bringing in new business.
COVID-19 has had serious impact on Fiji's economy, which, the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) said earlier, is envisaged to contract by 19 percent in 2020 and is expected to range between 1.6 percent and 8 percent in 2021.
The World Bank said recently that Fiji's economy is expected to grow by 2.6 percent this year. And local economists believe that 2022 will be Fiji's year of growth once COVID-19 is managed and vaccines made available. Enditem