The Fiji Development Bank has confirmed that Grace Road Group, a business that earlier received financing from the bank, fully repaid its loan in 2021 and has since lodged a fresh application that is currently under assessment. FDB chief executive Filimone Waqabaca made the disclosure during a recent parliamentary review of the bank’s 2024 Annual Report before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.
“Grace Road was a recipient of a loan from FDB at the very initial stage. I think when they entered the Fiji market, FDB was a financier at that point, and they paid off their debt in 2021,” Waqabaca told MPs. He added that the company has “of recent” submitted new loan applications that have been assessed and “taken up to our board risk committee.”
Waqabaca used his appearance before the committee to stress that FDB’s loan-assessment processes are governed by the bank’s constitution and are conducted without discrimination. “For me, as the CEO and also wearing the development hat, I use the constitution as the guide in extending our loans or assessing loan proposals. I tell our team that as much as possible, we should not be discriminatory in our approach, especially if it’s a business and it comes to FDB,” he said.
The bank also told the parliamentary committee that it has strengthened its governance arrangements in recent years to insulate lending decisions from external influence. Waqabaca said loan approvals are now handled through internal committees, including a board risk committee, rather than being subject to external interference. The FDB argued this structure increases accountability and reduces the risk of undue influence over lending decisions.
The statements come amid parliamentary scrutiny of the FDB’s 2024 Annual Report, a wider review that has previously highlighted the bank’s efforts to broaden lending across Fiji. In its latest reporting year the bank recorded notable activity and changes to its lending footprint, which management has cited as part of broader reforms to bolster transparency and development-focused financing.
What is new in this update is the bank’s confirmation of the timing of the Grace Road repayment and the disclosure that a new application is in the formal assessment pipeline. No decision on the new application has been reported; Waqabaca indicated it is under consideration by internal risk and board committees. The clarification responds to questions raised during the committee session about past and current commercial relationships between FDB and private operators.
The Standing Committee review provided MPs with the opportunity to press the bank on governance and lending practices as it carries out its statutory role in supporting business and rural development. FDB’s assurances to the committee are likely to become part of the public record as the new loan application proceeds through the bank’s strengthened internal approval processes.
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