Economic Stimulus Package

The package, implemented by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, is designed to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 in Vanuatu.

At a signing ceremony witnessed by the executive of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, Minister Koanapo thanked the Australian High Commissioner for Australia’s support.

The policy also clarifies those sectors that partly qualify and those that are not eligible for assistance for ESP.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Management, Johnny Koanapo Rasou, said the Ministry through its dedicated ESP Team is mandated to assess all applications based on these criteria to confirm their eligibility. 

This comes after Prime Minister Bob Loughman instructed the Chairman of Vanuatu's Christian Council, Pastor Alain Nafuki, to write to the Minister of Finance to ask if churches could be entitled to receive funds.

The emergency budget has been approved by the Council of Ministers with the idea that the majority of it was to rescue businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry which had laid off staff or closed due to the coronavirus global epidemic.

According to the ministry, most of the applications were from the tourism and services-related business sectors, which are forecast to be the worst hit sectors by the pandemic.

The ministry confirmed that payments for the COVID -19 Employment Stimulus Package (ESP) approved by the Council of Ministers (COM) early last month have commenced.

To date the government has already approved payments for 36 companies and some 883 employees, and employers should have seen their bank accounts credited either last week or by the end of this week.