FORMER finance minister and Government MP Professor Biman Prasad has rejected criticism from Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube, saying the Coalition Government’s economic record speaks for itself.
Responding to claims that he failed to move Fiji’s economy forward during his tenure as Minister for Finance, Prof Prasad said Mr Narube was ignoring key economic indicators and the challenges inherited by the Government when it took office in 2022.
“If he is honest, if you look at the statistics, if you look at the data, look at how the economy performed in the last three years and what the government has done to improve the quality of life of people, then he would not be saying any of these things,” Prof Prasad said.
He said critics were wrongly blaming the Government for revised economic growth projections, noting that the downgrade from three per cent to 1.5 per cent growth for 2026 was linked to the economic crisis that emerged in February this year.
“The projection for 2026 is based on the crisis which started in February 2026,” he said, adding that the Macroeconomic Committee and the Reserve Bank of Fiji had taken a “very conservative approach”.
He said the Coalition Government inherited a debt-to-GDP ratio of 91.8 per cent and had since reduced it to 79 per cent by July 2025 while writing off $650million Tertiary Students Loan Scheme (TSLS) debt.
“We raised the minimum wage, increased social welfare allowances and ensured people transitioning from low incomes after COVID were supported.”
Prof Prasad said Fiji’s economy had recorded growth of more than three per cent over the past three years and challenged Mr Narube’s criticism.
“He obviously has not offered one single intelligent solution to the crisis.”
