THE threshold for the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) Housing Facility for first time homeowners that was set at $25,000 has been increased to $50,000.
Standing Committee on Economic Affairs chairperson Lorna Eden said this had come to fruition after the committee recommended that the bank be encouraged to increase the threshold noting the importance of this initiative.
National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad said the committee had correctly recommended that the bank should be encouraged to increase the threshold to $50,000, given the difficulty at the escalating cost of housing and the affordability of housing to a lot of people.
Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said there were a number of areas that the Government wanted to work in the housing sector.
He said as had been announced in the national budget, the Government provided a number of initiatives in respect with interest rates being offered.
“We are currently working on some various initiatives regarding housing. There will be some announcements made in that respect. This income tax threshold in respect of concessionary loan has gone up to $50,000, madam Speaker, from $25,000 to $50,000 that has already been implemented,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
“I think that is a very critical aspect of not just in terms of giving ordinary Fijians the right to actually have home ownership, but it also created a lot more robustness in the economy because as we all know that construction actually links to a lot more creation of jobs.”
