THE Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) board has approved a relief package for employers. Fund CEO Jaoji Koroi said they understood the situation facing employers and the challenges for them to comply with the laws given the current economic situation.
“Therefore, I would like to also announce that the board has approved a relief package for our employers that will be effective retrospectively from January 2020 until June 2021,” he said.
He said the fund would be communicating the full details to their employers in the coming week and hope it would help them during this difficult period.
Mr Koroi also announced the board’s decision to retain the Special Death Benefit (SDB) for FY2020 of $8500, at a premium of $35, to be deducted from the members’ accounts on July 1, 2020.
“This amount is added to a member’s FNPF balance in the event that they pass away between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021 or financial year 2021,” he said.
Meanwhile the fund is also expecting its investments in the tourism sector to be affected by COVID-19 until 2021.
Mr Koroi said the fund would therefore rely on its investments in the balance of its portfolio which included the 42 per cent investments in safer government bonds, to support their returns next year.
“This is the benefit of diversification,” he said.
“The fund’s investment team is closely monitoring the economic climate of the country and the global community — we will continue to seek opportunities that would optimise returns.
“All industries, including the superannuation industry are facing immense challenges with the key challenge being the need to strike a balance between helping our members during this difficult period without losing sight of our core objective, which is to ensure that our members will have a meaningful income when they reach retirement.”
He said the fund had also taken a more vigilant position in its commitments and were strategising to ensure its operations were smarter and conducive to the current operating environment to protect members’ hard-earned savings.
“I also encourage members to save when you can,” he added.
“We have members that have signed up for additional contributions. These members have grasped the importance of saving with FNPF and have capitalised on the facilities or products available, as well as the tax exemption to boost their savings.”
More than 70,000 members were said to be able to check their balance on the myFNPF app, while 36,000 could view their latest statement on the member portal.
Mr Koroi said 140,000 members would receive their updated statement via email in the next few months.
“Members are therefore encouraged to update their email records with the fund to receive their statement via email.”
