OPPOSITION Leader and People FirstParty leader Inia Seruiratu says the Opposition will closely scrutinise the Government’s expenditure priorities in the 2026-2027 National Budget in the coming days.
While acknowledging positives in the budget, including consistency and predictability in the taxation system, Mr Seruiratu said expenditure remained a key area of concern and would be subject to detailed examination.
“So there are positives as well, but on the other hand, there are things that we will need to scrutinise as well, particularly expenditure,” he said.
Mr Seruiratu said the Opposition would assess whether government spending reflected the right priorities and examine the policies underpinning the budget’s economic growth agenda.
“Expenditure is always a concern, while we have intentions on how government revenue is spent. But what is important is prioritisation and looking at the level of expenditure as well.”
He said growing the economy was important, but the focus should be on how the Government intended to achieve that growth and the incentives supporting it.
Mr Seruiratu also highlighted renewable energy, water and wastewater infrastructure as key areas he believed should remain priorities, saying Fiji needed to accelerate its transition away from fossil fuels while investing in reliable utilities to support economic development.
The budget allocates significant attention to Fiji’s renewable energy transition, including a planned $2billion investment program through Energy Fiji Ltd aimed at expanding hydropower, solar generation and grid infrastructure.
He said opportunities existed to develop industries such as biofuel and sustainable aviation fuel using local resources including coconuts and sugar, while ageing infrastructure also required significant investment.
“For any developing country, we need the utilities to be well functioning. That is something that is positive for investment in order to entice investors to come into the country. But of course, we admit the fact that we have aging infrastructure. And that needs to be replaced.”
