A number of people have come forward and thanked the Government for the $50 cash assistance which was disbursed to them through M-Paisa and My-Cash earlier this week.

Government paid out around $11.2 million to over 224,000 Fijians under the program on Wednesday.

This is in addition to the $90 cash assistance paid out earlier to 118,000 households with a total payout of $10.6 million.

People say the assistance has come at the right time and will help them support their families.

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The Acting Permanent Secretary for Economy Shiri Goundar says they have run the two programs to assist people in the informal sector with a total payout of $21 million.