Praneeta Prakash 
[Photo: File]
The Fiji Development Bank’s loan portfolio has grown to almost $600 million as the bank continues to expand its lending and improve the quality of its financial assets.
Chief Financial Officer Saiyad Hussain revealed the figures before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts while making a presentation on the Audit Report on Public Enterprise and other Entities.
Hussein says the portfolio had increased significantly from $368 million in 2023 to $411 million in 2025.
He says the bank also recorded a net profit of $14.1 million in 2025, while its net income increased from $29.1 million in 2024 to $32.1 million.
He adds that its non-performing loans have declined substantially to around $63 million, reflecting an improvement in the overall quality of its lending portfolio.
However, he says that the rising cost of funds remains one of the bank’s biggest challenges because it must borrow from the market to finance its operations.
“As a bank, we have to borrow from the market to fund our operations. And we are always at the mercy of the market. What the market dictates in terms of interest rate, we have to get that. So, I think if you look at the last few years, the liquidity in the market has been quite high. And so, we got the benefit of lower cost of fund.”
Hussein says the bank benefited from lower market interest rates in previous years, but an increase between 2024 and 2025 placed additional pressure on its funding costs.
