FINANCE EXPERTS ON BUDGET

FOUR THINGS FIJIAN SMALL BUSINESSES CAN DO TO OPERATE THROUGH THE PANDEMIC ANZ Fiji has also supported more than 2000 of its retail customers with loan repayment deferrals through its COVID-19 hardship package.

ANZ Bank pair reflect on Budget before announcement

Right now, across Fiji hundreds of business owners are in the same predicament. They’re all looking at their immediate cash flow, and what they can do to reduce costs while looking for new revenue sources to keep their businesses afloat.

Luckily here in the Pacific, we’re used to adapting quickly when mother nature throws challenges our way. When the pandemic hit, ANZ Fiji moved quickly to support customers, adopting a three-pronged strategy.

Firstly, the bank dropped interest rates and fees to reduce customers’ costs straightaway.

Secondly, ANZ looked at how customers could preserve cash flow. Around 20 per cent of our Small-Medium Enterprise (SME) customers in Fiji had their loan payments rescheduled due to the uncertainty of COVID-19.

ANZ supported a small number of these SMEs through the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s business guarantee scheme, which provides additional financial support for SMEs that meet set criteria.

This scheme will become critical in the months to come as relief efforts slow and businesses look to get back on their feet and take advantage of a rebound.

ANZ Fiji also supported more than 2000 of our retail customers with loan repayment deferrals through our COVID-19 hardship package.

The third part was access to capital and additional funding. ANZ has provided a significant amount of new lending and temporary requests for funding to assist our SME customers. Although notably, most customers saw this as a last resort option because few wanted to take on new debt during uncertain times.

Now that Fiji has the immediate health risk of COVID-19 under control, it’s time for businesses to look ahead at ways to pivot.

Our borders will reopen, but things won’t be the same for a long time. Some businesses will adapt and survive, and others will fail. Now is the time to start preparing for when demand comes back. Demand will be slow at first so first movers will have

the advantage.

The relationship between a bank and a business has never been more important.

Keeping key business partners, such as banks, abreast of changes – whether that’s a drop in daily cash-flow or

more ambitious longer-term planning – is important.

The next few months will continue to be challenging. The benefit for us here in Fiji is that we have the health crisis under control. Let’s think about how we can use that to our advantage.