2024-2025 National Budget still has not met our expectations of steering the economy – FPSA General Secretary

While the 2024-2025 National Budget is welcome news for the 33,000 civil servants, it still, unfortunately, has not met the expectations of the Fiji Public Service Association that it would steer the economy to recover as well as do social justice to the poor and underprivileged in the country.

This was the statement by FPSA General Secretary, Judith Kotobalavu at the National Workers and Community rally at Thurston Garden in Suva.

Kotobalavu says the consumers had expected the budget to come up with some effective measures to cushion the debilitating effect on the poor and the disadvantaged but sadly this has not happened.

Kotobalavu adds the modest pay increase approved for civil servants will undoubtedly lead to a rise in the cost of living and will have a trickle-down effect all around including in the service sector.

She says the last budget in 2023 which increased the VAT from 9 percent to 15 percent has continued to affect the members and it also had a devastating effect on the poor and the poorest of the poor in the community.

The General Secretary says there is no denying that poverty has continued to spiral upward due to the lack of job opportunities and heavy price rises in consumer goods.

She further says VAT, like all other indirect tax measures, affects the disadvantaged in society more as it raises the prices that consumers pay and poorer consumers use a large part of their income for consumption.

She says the coalition government must seek alternative ways of taxing and growing the economy and should not concentrate on extracting most revenue from the weakest in the society.

Kotobalavu says in totality, the increased prices of goods is affecting the vast majority of the population.