Bringing food prices and cost of living down will form two of the main thrusts of discussions at the upcoming National Economic Summit, says Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Professor Biman Prasad.
He also said in light of the significant reduction in freight costs, the summit would also look at whether the savings were being passed on to consumers, and if not, why not.
“The prices of some things are going down, meat prices have gone down and some other food items,” Prof Prasad said, speaking to this newspaper from Los Angeles in the United States yesterday.
“Those are some of the things we will be looking at very carefully and how we can cushion the effect on the poor.
“This will also be one of the key things for us. There will always be consideration how to cushion the impact on the most vulnerable Fijians.”
The National Economic Summit will be held on April 20 and 21 at the Grand Pacific Hotel and Albert Park grandstand complex in Suva.
More than 500 participants including Government MPs, Opposition members, other political parties, diplomatic missions, international and regional bodies, civil society organisations, trade unions, academia, women and religious groups and the private sector have expressed interest to be part of the talks.
