$9.6 billion debt level as of April 2023 – Prof. Prasad

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad says the current debt level as of April this year stands at $9.6 billion, which is equivalent to 81.8 percent of the debt-to-GDP ratio.

This has been highlighted by Professor Prasad on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when questioned on the actual situation as far as government debt, revenue and expenditure is concerned.

He says what people will see now is that independent organisations such as the World Bank, and the IMF, have come out with their own assessment of the Fijian economy and the fiscal position of the economy.

He says they were right when they had raised issues about debt, reckless spending, controlling expenditure, and about making sure that projects were prioritised before they came into Government.

Professor Prasad says people also know that the Fijian economy had started contracting before the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also spoke about wastage that they have already discovered.

He also highlighted that with the confidence level indicators showing very positive results, they are expecting a growth rate of about more than 6 percent by the end of this year.

The Deputy Prime Minister says they also have a plan in place to reduce Fiji’s debt-to-GDP ratio to as low as 50 percent in the next 10 years or so.

You can watch the full Straight Talk video here.