FORMER Reserve Bank of Fiji governor and Unity Fiji Party leader Savenaca Narube says the 2026-2027 National Budget offers little new relief for families struggling with the rising cost of living, while retirees and the poor appear to have been largely overlooked.
Mr Narube said most of the assistance announced in the budget simply continued existing measures.
“There are some ongoing reliefs, but I didn’t see much of new ones,” he said.
He said retirees remained one of the biggest concerns.
“I’m very concerned about the welfare of retirees. There’s nothing there very much for them.”
Mr Narube noted that the increase in retirement allowances was only temporary.
“There is an increase in their allowances, which is a temporary one. It will end next month in July and will be back to normal.”
He questioned why there had been no announcement of additional long-term support.
“There was no mention in the budget of any further increase in retirement allowances.”
Mr Narube also said low-income families would gain little from the budget.
“I don’t see much for them to look forward to in this budget.”
He said employment remained difficult to secure and many households continued to face daily hardships.
“Employment is still a premium, it’s still quite difficult to get employment. There’s still a lot of barriers that they face in their daily lives.”
Mr Narube said many of the budget measures would do little to improve living standards beyond assistance already in place.
“It’s unfortunate that not many of those incentives or measures will help families from where they are compared to what is already being given.”
