IF you are concerned about the cost of living in Fiji, you are not the only one.
According to the recent Tebbutt Times poll which surveyed 1004 adults nationwide, a total of 29 per cent said their living costs had increased — 12 per cent were of the view that costs had “gone up a lot” and 17 per cent felt cost had “gone up a little” following the State’s reduction of value added tax (VAT) from 15 per cent to 9 per cent last year.
In the poll administered last month by internationally-accredited world standard market researcher Tebbutt Research, survey participants were asked whether their living costs had gone down, gone up or stayed the same since the change in VAT rate.
According to the poll results, 40 per cent of those surveyed also said their cost of living had gone down since the reduction of VAT.
“A total of 35 per cent said their costs had gone down a lot and 5 per cent said their costs had “gone down a little”, combining to make it 40 per cent down.
“For 29 per cent, the cost remained the same, a further 2 per cent were unsure and less than half of one per cent refused to answer the question,” the poll revealed.
According to the poll, there were differences by divisions.
“Those in the Western, Northern and Eastern divisions were more likely to claim costs had gone down than those in the Central Division.
“The results were broadly consistent across gender, ethnicity and age groups. They were also consistent for those living in both urban and rural areas.”
The survey also revealed that for those responding that their living costs had gone up a lot, 14 per cent of iTaukei were recorded in that category, compared with 7 per cent for Fijians of Indian descent.
