Commercial banks in Fiji are now preparing to reduce their lending and interest rates as directed by the Reserve Bank of Fiji following the devaluation of the Fiji dollar by 20 percent.
Association of Banks in Fiji President, Westpac General Manager John Cashmore said the banks will do all they can to adhere to the requirements.
Following a meeting with individual banks yesterday, the Reserve Bank Governor Sada Reddy said the banks generally agreed to the implementation of Micro finance policies, explore the possibility of appointing local advisory boards, set up customer complaints processes in line with the RBF guidelines and more stringently apply these guidelines.
Reddy also revealed that on customer complaints processes, after consultations with the government it has been agreed to discard the proposals to set up a Financial Services Commission and Banking Ombudsman.
It its place, the RBF will immediately set up a Financial Institutions Complaint Unit at the Reserve Bank and in turn each bank, credit institution, FNPF and FDB and insurance companies will have dedicated staff at each branch to receive customer complaints.
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Commercial banks preparing to reduce interest rates
