The Government’s fiscal policies are delivering relief to households and strengthening the economy, says Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad.
Responding to Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj in Parliament, Prof Prasad said the economy was tracking better than international forecasts.
“The ADB has projected Fiji’s growth at 3 percent in 2025, but our own macroeconomic committee’s forecast as of June 2025 puts our growth projection to 3.2 percent for the year,” he said, adding that inflation had eased significantly.
“Monthly inflation for the period January to August has averaged negative one (-1) percent, a clear indication that the overall consumer prices have fallen when compared to the same period in 2024.
“Inflation stood at -3.5 percent in August compared to 3.8 percent last year.”
Prof Prasad said new fiscal measures beyond the budget had been targeted at easing the cost of essentials.
“We further added to that and reduced the VAT from 15 percent to 12.5 percent. In total, we are adding about $500million directly into the pockets of our people.”
He pointed to duty cuts on chicken, fish, potatoes, garlic, onions, tea, cooking oil, fruits, and vegetables, adding that a joint taskforce was monitoring to ensure reductions reached consumers.
“I want to thank all the businesses who have done that and those that have not, we will make sure that they do,” he said.
The minister also highlighted support for households through bus fare subsidies, a higher minimum wage and increased crop prices.
“These are measures that are giving relief to a lot of consumers in the country, and the official figures are very clear,” he said.
