FNPF amendment allows members to rejoin twice after withdrawal – Prof. Prasad

The amendment to the FNPF Act will allow members to rejoin FNPF once they withdraw if they later get back into employment.

This was highlighted by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad while speaking in Parliament on the motion of the amendment of the FNPF Act.

Professor Prasad says the amendment updates Section 36(6) of the FNPF Act to allow individuals who have ceased to be members of the fund following an entitlement event to be readmitted on two further occasions, in which the law previously allowed only one re-entry.

He says this proposal has been discussed in detail, and the FNPF Board and management have carefully reviewed it and are supportive.

Professor Prasad further says that public feedback also supports the change.

He says the core of this proposal is to revise the rules of the FNPF.

Professor Prasad says most countries around the world have moved to a higher retirement age, including Papua New Guinea, which has set its retirement age to 62 years old.

Professor Prasad says the amendment will benefit people who withdraw due to migration or medical reasons and later return to Fiji or the workforce, and adds that allowing them to rejoin the fund twice will help them continue building their lifelong savings.