French Polynesia's president Édouard Fritch has declared to the French Polynesian Assembly a number of new economic actions over the territory in the coming months.
The President of French Polynesia Edouard Fritch speaks to journalists after a meeting with French Prime Minister at the Hotel Matignon in Paris on June 22, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHON Photo: AFP or licensors
Speaking at the French Polynesian Assembly, Fritch said that he will be decreasing the funding of the Social Security System, the CPS, by 1% rather than 1.5% as originally expected.
Sick leave has become a serious issue, with the CPS recording 13,000 incidents in January alone. This is twice as much as the normal expected amount of sick leave.
The rate of absence among employees has also had a significant impact on businesses. Employers are struggling to deal with an unusual labour shortage.
Businesses borrowing funds from the CPS has increased Government debt. Mr Fritch reminded the Assembly that nearly $ 1 billion USD has already been borrowed over the past two years in order to deal with inflation in relation to the Covid outbreak.
Mr Fritch announced a number of economic controls to keep the people of French Polynesia financially secure despite Covid impacting the economy.
Petrol prices will be frozen until June and price controls will be placed on animal food, wheat for bread, and other culinary imports.
A minimum wage increase is also expected, as well as an increase in business leaders' earnings which have been frozen since 2019.