Critics undermining and discrediting the hard work of Ministry of Economy civil servants involved in securing over $400 million in budget support grants - PS for Economy

Permanent Secretary for Economy, Shiri Gounder says critics are undermining the hard work of dedicated Ministry of Economy civil servants involved in securing over $400 million in budget support grants.

Gounder says securing over $400 million in budget support grant through the Governments of Australia and New Zealand reflects the trust our bilateral partners have in Fiji's public financial management system and reaffirms that Fiji's socio-economic response to this once in 100 year COVID-19 induced crisis is appropriate.

He says it's unfortunate that some critics have been trying to discredit this genuine partnership between Fiji and the bilateral partners during these challenging times.

Gounder says it is also an attempt to discredit the hard work of many dedicated civil servants at the Ministry of Economy who rose above the challenges in successfully securing these budget support grants which was critical to ensure they sustain Government finances with minimal disruption to public services and their ability to provide almost $500 million in direct income support and relief measures to those affected by the crisis.

The Permanent Secretary says this large funding support was no easy task but required tactful negotiation and more importantly completion of a number of reform measures to strengthen public finance management, support private sector development, improve performance of state owned enterprises and build disaster resilience, amongst other reform measures.

Gounder says it is saddening to see that while they give their best to support the nation come out of this crisis at these extremely challenging times, there are critics who for the sake of criticism are trying to discredit these genuine efforts.

He says nonetheless, they have managed to survive this crisis with the support and dedication of many and its now time to rebuild our economy.

Gounder says with the successful vaccination rollout, they have now managed to open the economy with people getting back to work.

He says the worst part of the crisis is now behind us and we are now firmly on a recovery path with a double digit growth projected for 2022.