A CALL has been made for the thorough review of the Fiji Development Bank.
While presenting FDB’s consolidated annual reports between 2022 and 2023, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economic Affairs chairperson Sakiusa Tunabuna said while there were commendable achievements made by FDB, there were concerns that needed to be addressed.
“FDB had not undertaken a significant independent review to modernise its operations, to better serve customers and to support the government’s development agenda,” Mr Tubuna said.
“The committee recommends a thorough review of FDB, considering the last review was undertaken in 2004 by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
“Currently, the bank’s financial focus appears to be heavily tilted towards their staff benefits rather than focus on its core view of leveraging finance to develop key and focal sectors as prioritized by government.
“The absence of clear performance targets makes it difficult to assess the performance of FDB.”
He said during their review of the Bank’s annual reports, the Committee met with FDB representatives and stakeholders to seek clarifications on key findings and issues raised in annual reports.
“This exercise proved a valuable insight into the challenges faced by clients in securing and repairing homes, helping to identify areas to improve FDB services and better support the government’s economic growth objective, as outlined in the national development plan.
“Discussions focused on issues raised by FDB clients, challenges related to nonperforming loans and strategies to strengthen the partnerships with the government agencies.”
