More $360 Payment Soon, Verification process underway

Payments will be made in the coming days for a few $360 Government unemployment cash assistance recipients whose details are still being verified.

Ministry of Economy Acting Permanent Secretary Shiri Gounder said majority of payments had been finalised and paid off while a few minor payments were yet to be made because further verifications are needed.

So far, the Fijian Government has paid out $430 million in direct unemployment assistance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the current round of assistance, Government has paid out $86 million to more than 238,000 eligible Fijians.

“We wish to clarify again that this is an “unemployment assistance” and not a “vaccination pay out” because there seems to be some misconception that vaccination is the only requirement for this pay out,” Mr Gounder said.

“In fact the $360 payment is an unemployment assistance with vaccination as one of the requirements. So those employed or on any other Government assistance do not qualify. This was clearly articulated in the budget and also detailed out in many Government media releases.”

Mr Gounder said a number of applicants, who applied using SIM cards that were registered in another person’s name were disqualified because of difficulty in verification and the risk of abuse as some tried to claim money on other people’s behalf.

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