![Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum - [Image: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji]](https://www.fijivillage.com/news_images/82955241760ad91166c012eda0aefa.jpg)
Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has today tabled a motion in parliament for the government to guarantee $170 million for the Fiji Development Bank.
While tabling the motion, Sayed-Khaiyum says the 2021 government guarantee request from the FDB will enable continued implementation and facilitation of government policy by lending to essential sectors of the economy.
He highlighted that the FDB will pay a guarantee fee of 0.075% on the cumulative utilised guarantee credit.
Sayed-Khaiyum says as at 30th June 2020, the FDB had 4825 loan accounts with an accumulative loan portfolio of $541.88 million.
He says in line with the Fijian Government’s mandate, the number of loan accounts in the agriculture sector constitutes 62.22% of the total loan accounts.
Sayed-Khaiyum says in summary, the focus sector represents 81.6% of the total number of loan accounts and 41.19% of the total value of the bank portfolio.
The Attorney General says as at 30th June 2020, the bank recorded an operating profit after tax of $1.14 million which is a drop by $2.92 million for the previous period.
He says the total assets of the bank stood at $540.57 million which is a drop by $5.04 million. Sayed-Khaiyum says the bank’s borrowing request averages around $160 million for the last three calendar years.
He adds the bank’s total forecast inflow for 2020 is $78.63 million and requires an additional $170 million to finance the total outlay of $248.63 million.
Debate continue on the motion.
