Over 17,000 FNPF members have zero balances in their General Account

More than 17,000 members of the Fiji National Provident Fund are now left with zero balances in their General Account.

According to the FNPF’s 2020 Annual Report, this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 withdrawals.

CEO, Jaoji Koroi says although the preservation policy has secured 70%  of members’ savings in their preserved account, these members will still need to build their balance for a meaningful retirement.

Koroi says to assist members build their balance, the Fund will review the withdrawal policies to provide value-added services, encourage members to repay early withdrawals and continue for more members to sign up for additional contributions.

He says key to addressing these concerns will be their collaboration with government and other relevant stakeholders.

Koroi says they will also continue to advocate on the protection and conservation of the preserved account and the steadfastness of protecting 70% of members savings for retirement has led to doubling of this account from $2.5 billion in 2014 to $5.0 billion in 2020.

Meanwhile, the FNPF recorded a net increase in net assets of $320.4 million for 2020 which was the basis of a declared interest to members of 5% that saw the distribution of $293.9 million to 388,071 members.

The Fund has now paid $1.4 billion in interest to members in the last five years.