Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) chief executive officer Bhan Singh has told Parliament that the corporation does not receive direct funding from the Government, relying instead on government guarantees to secure bank loans.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economic Affairs yesterday, Mr Singh sought to clarify the nature of Government support provided to the sugar industry.
“My comment on that is actually FSC does not get any direct funding from the Government. The sugar company does not get any direct funding from the Government. We only get government guarantees,” Mr Singh said.
He explained that most of the annual budget allocations for the sugar sector are directed towards farmer assistance programs and other industry-related entities rather than the corporation itself.
“The direct funding that goes as part of the annual budget, the users of those budgets are mostly South Pacific Fertilizers, and the rest goes to farmers in various forms of grants,” he said.
Mr Singh said the grants include cane planting assistance, cane access road projects, drainage programs and farmer incentive schemes.
“There are various programs that we have, so FSC annually does not get any direct funding from the Government, other than the government guarantees, which we need to seek loans from banks,” he said.
Government guarantees allow FSC to access financing from commercial lenders while providing assurance to banks that the loans are backed by the State.
The clarification comes amid ongoing debate over Government support for the sugar industry, as farmers continue to press for higher cane payments and the industry grapples with declining production and rising operating costs.
