GOVERNMENT has refuted claims by Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube that ministers received a 40 per cent salary increase.
Responding to Mr Narube’s call for further decreases to MPs’ wages to manage government’s spending in the face of the global fuel crisis, government labelled the former RBF governor’s claims as misleading.
“What he calls an ‘increase’ in June 2024 includes the restoration of a 20 per cent COVID pay cut implemented in March 2020 which ran for four years even well after the pandemic was over along with raising the minimum wage in just the Government’s first year in office, increased social welfare allowances, removed $650million of student debt and increased the pay of civil servants,” a government statement said.
“That is not a pay rise. It is returning salaries to where they were before the pandemic sacrifice. Beyond that, the actual adjustment is 6.38 per cent.
“But even that does not tell the full story, and this is where his argument completely falls apart.
“Not all ministers received a pay increase in June 2024.”
The statement pointed out that the ministers for Finance, Education and Infrastructure took 15 per cent pay cuts while the Prime Minister took a 3 per cent cut.
“So the claim that ministers are sitting comfortably ‘ahead’ is simply false.
“Now, with a 20 per cent reduction applied, ministers are taking a real pay cut today. Yet Mr Narube still insists they are ‘ahead by 20 per cent’, a claim that does not survive even the most basic calculation.
“For a former Reserve Bank governor and aspiring prime minister, this is not a small mistake. It raises a serious question, is this incompetence, or is it deliberate misinformation?”
Government maintained the salary reduction was never presented as the single solution to the fuel crisis.
“It is leadership by example, a signal that those in Government are prepared to share the burden while broader measures are rolled out to support families, businesses, and key sectors.
“To twist that into a political stunt is disingenuous.
“Mr Narube, on the other hand, offers no solutions, only criticism built on distorted facts and selective narratives.
“Fijians deserve better than recycled political attacks dressed up as economic analysis.”
