THE World Bank has announced the provision of a $US50 million ($F102 million) credit facility to Fiji. In a press statement, the World Bank stated the transaction was to support Fiji’s recovery from the impacts of COVID-19 and severe tropical cyclones Harold and Yasa.
The project would have a special focus on women who had been “disproportionally affected by the crisis”.
The World Bank stated in the past 12 months, Fiji’s tourism sector had been brought to a virtual standstill because of COVID-19 and the socio-economic impact had been exacerbated by five cyclones since January 2020.
“These external shocks have resulted in an economic contraction of 19 per cent in 2020 and a rise in unemployment to 27 per cent – the most severe contraction in Fiji’s history,” the statement read.
The World Bank stated in response to the challenges, it unveiled the Fiji Social Protection COVID-19 Response and System Development Project.
It stated this followed the recent approval of the World Bank Group’s new Country Partnership Framework for Fiji which would support Government’s COVID-19 relief measures “with a particular focus on cash transfers targeting Fijians in the formal sector who have lost their jobs or have had their working hours reduced as a result of COVID-19 through the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF)”.
Agriculture Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy said according to a ministry survey, 1182 households headed by females were affected by STC Yasa. He also said approximately 23,725 households affected by STC Yasa were in need of immediate assistance.