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The Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) has re-delegated control of foreign exchange transactions to commercial banks and foreign exchange dealers ending the control it took of most transactions in April to protect sagging foreign exchange levels.
As part of the removal of restrictions, effective January 1, 2010, the limit on overseas travel will be raised from $5000 to $10,000.
RBF Governor Sada Reddy said foreign reserves had continued to improve since the 20 percent devaluation of the Fiji dollar in April to current levels of $1.085 million, equivalent to almost four months of imports. As a result, liquidity in the banking system had also risen to around $390 million.
Reddy said that with the improvements in foreign reserves, it was time to remove the direct controls that were put in place in April to assist in economic recovery.
“These controls served their purpose during a period when foreign reserve levels were very low,” he said.
Effective from January 1, exchange control transactions will be re-delegated to commercial banks and foreign exchange dealers for the following transactions:
a) Travel: Delegated limit will be increased from $5,000 to $10,000 return trip.
b) Charges/Fees/Services: Delegated limit will be increased from $50,000 to $100,000 per invoice.
c) Airline Ticket Sales: Delegated limit will be increased from $50,000 to $100,000 per application.
d) Education/Medical Expenses: Delegated limit will be increased from $500 to $1,000 paid to student/patient.
e) Loan Repayments: Delegated limit will be increased from $50,000 to $100,000 for
scheduled principal and interest payments.
f) Lease Payments: Delegated limit will be increased from $50,000 to $100,000 per
scheduled payment.
Reddy said requests for amounts in excess of these must be referred to the Reserve Bank.
