The Fiji National Provident Fund stresses that members can only access 30% of their funds in their General Account for pre-retirement withdrawals like housing, medical, funeral, unemployment and education however 70% of their funds will always remain in the Preserved Account for retirement.
FNPF CEO, Jaoji Koroi says as at 30th June last year FNPF’s total assets was $7.4 billion and Members Funds stood at $5.9 billion.
Koroi also says that the operations and business environment for superannuation funds in Australia differs from FNPF.
He says superannuation members in Australia don’t have access to their funds before their retirement, and the AUD$10,000 that the members there can withdraw is a one-off situation during the current pandemic.
Koroi says FNPF is not just a retirement savings fund, but they also have social security obligations and they will stand by the members in their time of need.
He says to be able to provide this withdrawal specifically for COVID-19, the Fund has had to make amendments to the FNPF Act 2011, which is a reflection of the extraordinary situation we are in at the moment.
Koroi also says that whilst the opportunity is available for members to access their funds, ultimately, they will base their decision to withdraw on their personal financial circumstances and the Fund continues to encourage those that have not been affected, to make an informed decision on whether they want to access their funds because any withdrawal will impact their retirement savings.
