A $5 million project to retrain and reskill employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is currently being assessed by the Ministry of Economy for funding.

Fiji National University has submitted a proposal to conduct the trainings which is budgeted for in the 2020 to 2021 financial year.

In his ministerial statement outlining Fiji’s economic and fiscal performance for the first six months of this financial year, Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said over 100,000 jobs have been affected in the formal and informal sectors.

While some employees had returned to work, he said many were still unemployed or on reduced hours and were receiving unemployment assistance from the Fiji National Provident Fund.

So far a total of $206.7 million has been paid out to FNPF members, of which government has directly paid out $94.5 million.

This includes $30.6 million from the COVID-19 Response Budget and $63.9 million from the 2020-2021 budget.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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