Fiji

No amount/estimate: The Reserve Bank of Fiji reduced the overnight policy rate to 0.25% from 0.5% on 18 March 2020 to counter the economic impact of COVID-19.

(i) No amount/estimate: Temporary increase of the import fiscal duties (by 0.2/L on fuel (diesel and petrol) effective March 2020; (ii) 17 July 2020, a second fiscal package was announced as part of the FY2020-21 budget for the fiscal year beginning in August, consisting of sizeable tax and tariff cuts. Other measures of this package can be found in 5B3 and 5B4.

(i) 4 June 2020, The Government expanded its unemployment assistance; (ii) 17 July 2020, The aforementioned budget in 5B2 also entails a total of FJD100 million for unemployment assistance; (iii) As of 11 September 2020, the Permanent Secretary for Poverty Alleviation of the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation is working to avail funds to help additional number of Fijians requiring social welfare assistance after the effects of COVID-19; (iv) 5 October 2020, regarding the 26 March 2020 supplementary budget, the Government reassured workers from parts of the economy (such as tourism) that have since opened up that they can report for work and receive aid on top of their salaries; (v) As of 8 October 2020, Authorities also announced a new hiring subsidy program under which the government will pay the minimum wage of FJD2.68 per hour and the remainder will be paid by the employers; (vi) 22 August 2021, The Fijian government has announced that 260,000 individuals qualified for the government's USD360 unemployment assistance, for a total pay-out of USD93.6 million. As of the same week, USD54 million has been disbursed to 150,000 individuals.

(i) 17 July 2020, The aforementioned budget in 5B2 also entails a subsidy to Fiji Airways of FJD60 million to incentivize first 150,000 tourists in new fiscal year; (ii) As of 1 October 2020, The Government has introduced several additional allocations amounting FJD50.9 million for the development of the sugar sector.

(i) 15 April 2020, USD0.03 million announced by the ADB as part of the Strengthening Social Protection in the Pacific program. On 24 July 2020, additional USD0.05 million co-financing under the same program; (ii) 24 April 2020, USD0.11 million allocated by the ADB as additional funding to Fiji under the Regional Project on Developing the Pacific Health Sector; (iii) USD1.20 million under the TA 9950-REG: Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of COVID-19 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases. As of 30 January 2021, this has now been increased to USD1.70 million. As of 8 October 2021, this has again been increased to USD1.76 million; (iv) 5 June 2020, USD0.17 million in financing under the Pacific Economic Management, Phase 3 project; (v) 15 July 2020, USD100 million funding from the ADB under the Sustained Private Sector-Led Growth Reform Program, with another USD50 million of co-financing from the AIIB; (vi) 24 July 2020, USD0.07 million under the regional project, Due Diligence and Capacity Development of Trade Finance Program Banks (Subproject 3); (vii) 10 August 2020, USD0.32 million under the regional project, Knowledge and Support Technical Assistance for Strengthening Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Practices and Hygiene Behavioral Change in the Pacific; (viii) 12 August 2020, USD0.11 million under the regional project, Support for Gender Sensitive Responses to COVID-19 in the Pacific Developing Member Countries; (ix) 2 October 2020, USD2 million under the COVID-19 Emergency Response Project; (x) 17 December 2020, USD0.35 million from the regional project, Supporting Recovery by Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Pacific from the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic; (xi) 12 March 2021, USD40 million through the ADB project, Fiji Airways COVID-19 Emergency Liquidity Support Facility, with another USD25 million cofinanced; (xii) 7 September 2021, USD0.19 million in funidng under the ADB regional project, Due Diligence and Capacity Development of Trade Finance Program Banks (Subproject 4); (xiii) 22 September 2021, USD0.06 million in funding through the ADB regional project, Fostering Regional Cooperation and Integration through Knowledge and Capacity Building of Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program Banks.

(i) 20 May 2020, AUD10.5 million in quick financial support from Australia to support Pacific countries hit by both the recent cyclone and pandemic; (ii) 25 June 2020, USD7.4 million in funding from the World Bank to further support the Government of Fiji in strengthening its health systems in the wake of the COVID-19 emergency; (iii) 15 July 2020, USD50 million co-financing from the AIIB under the Sustained Private Sector-Led Growth Reform Program; (iv) No amount/estimate: 19 August 2020, The US Government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has donated 50 brand-new, state-of-the-art ventilators to Fiji, Kiribati, and Nauru to assist their fight against COVID-19; (v) 14 August 2020, The AIIB approved a USD50 million loan to support the government’s efforts to provide assistance to the formal sector, including small and medium enterprises and their employees, and members of the informal sector; (vi) 9 February 2021, The World Bank provided a USD50 million boost to support Fiji’s recovery from the impacts of COVID-19 and severe tropical cyclones Harold and Yasa. The project, Fiji’s Social Protection System to Address Employment Impacts of COVID-19, has a special focus on women who have been disproportionally affected by the crisis; (vii) 1 March 2021, UNICEF, together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), handed over 22,000 Cepheid GeneXpert test kits to the Fijian Ministry of Health and Medical Services to strengthen the country’s COVID-19 prevention activities; (vii) Late February 2021, the Japanese government provided an emergency loan of FJD200 million to strengthen its public health system against the pandemic; (viii) 6 March 2021, Fiji became the first country in the Pacific islands to receive COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped via the COVAX Facility, with a shipment of 12,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca; (ix) 25 March 2021, USD145 million funding from the World Bank to support Fiji’s sustainable recovery plans; (x) End-March 2021, The Fijian government has received 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the Indian government; (x) 9 June 2021, The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Fiji Office has donated about FJD420,000 worth of medical equipment and PPEs, including gowns, disposable masks, eye shields and thermometers; (xi) 19 June 2021, Fiji has received a total of 250,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to date from Australia; (xii) 22 June 2021, The New Zealand Government has donated USD10 million to support Fiji in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic; (xiii) 23 June 2021, The Austrian Government has donated PPE worth FJD156,270 to the Fijian government; (xiv) 13 July 2021, Japan has announced that it will provide a total of 11 million vaccines to recepient countries, including Fiji; (xv) 16 July 2021, Fiji has received 150,080 doses of the Moderna vaccine from the COVAX Facility and the United States; (xvi) 3 August 2021, Fiji has received another 100,000 vaccine doses from New Zealand; (xvii) 20 August 2021, The Government of Japan has provided 60,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Fiji; (xviii) 3 September 2021, The Government of Australia has donated 2.7 million KN95 Respirators to Fiji; (xix) 10 September 2021, Fiji has received USD12 million from New Zealand to augment ongoing equipment and supply needs, including testing capacity, oxygen supply and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) stocks; (xx) 5 October 2021, The Fiji Red Cross Society has donated COVID-19 hygiene kits and pulse oximeters to the Ministry of Health; (xxi) 6 October 2021, The Fijian government has received Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and non-contact infrared thermometers from the Government of Korea and the Korea International Cooperation Agency.