Press Release No 33 –
Further Exchange Control Relaxations
Press Release No. : 33/2012
Date : 22 November 2012
The Honourable Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, announced in his 2013 Budget Address this afternoon that the Reserve Bank of Fiji would further relax exchange controls effective from 1 January 2013.
The Governor of the Reserve Bank, Mr Barry Whiteside, highlighted that for the first time since 2000, the Bank would relax certain capital account transactions by delegating these payments up to certain limits to Authorised Dealers. He highlighted that the changes were made in light of the outlook on foreign reserves which are currently around $1.6 billion. Governor Whiteside added that these measures would signal confidence to the market and increase operational efficiency for businesses as they can now repatriate their profits, up to $0.5 million, without seeking approval from the RBF.
Over the years, the Reserve Bank has progressively relaxed exchange controls and at present most current payments are delegated to commercial banks and foreign exchange dealers. The announced changes include further increases to the delegated limits of certain current payments and offshore investment by individuals.
The attached document provides more details of the exchange control changes which will become effective from 1 January 2013.
For any enquiries on the above, you may contact the Exchange Control Unit at the Reserve Bank of Fiji.