OPPOSITION MP Premila Kumar has accused the Coalition Government of wasteful spending and poor decision-making, claiming rising operating costs and growing legal settlements have come at the expense of economic growth.
Responding to the 2026-2027 National Budget in Parliament yesterday, Mrs Kumar said Government expenditure had expanded significantly since the Coalition came into office.
“The Government’s wasteful spending has continued,” she said.
“The operating expenditure has expanded from $3.6billion in 2023 to $4.9billion projected for this budget, with a larger cabinet size, more ministries, increased administrative costs, and limited evidence of the promised efficiency gains.”
She also highlighted a sharp increase in funding set aside for legal settlements.
“Another disturbing feature of this Government’s term has been the growing number of legal challenges involving the State.
“And this budget has allocated $4.4million for court orders and legal settlements, compared to $300,000 in the last two budgets.
“That extraordinary increase is the price of poor decision-making and not following the rule of law.”
Mrs Kumar said the Coalition Government had inherited an economy that was already on a strong recovery path following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Coalition Government inherited an economy with a strong recovery where Fiji was ranked the fifth-fastest-growing economy in the world.
“By 2023, Fiji’s economy recovered to pre-pandemic levels.”
She argued that the Government had failed to build on that momentum.
“This Government’s responsibility was to build on that momentum. Instead, it imposed austerity measures.”
