Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Prof. Biman Prasad on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan

Utilise the taxpayers' money properly.

This is the message from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad when questioned on fijivillage Straight Talk With Vijay Narayan on students receiving scholarships from the government.

He says the coalition government has written off the $650 million student debt, but $160 million of that taxpayers' money went down the drain because some students did not complete their program or left the country for a lucrative deal.

Professor Prasad says what they have done is replaced the previous scholarship system with a merit-based scholarship because the previous system was dumbing down the students.

He adds that the students actually went into programs to get admitted into a University, get the allowance and build up their debt.

The Deputy Prime Minister says if scholarship students do not complete their programs or move overseas without clearing up their bond, they will have to pay for leftover bond years and a 50 percent penalty.

Professor Prasad says the government is using a lot of taxpayers' money to fund the education of children, and if a student goes overseas for a 4-year degree study, they will have to pay around $400,000 for that particular student.

When asked if this move is harsh to students, the Deputy Prime Minister says it's not that harsh on the students but on the taxpayers.

Full Straight Talk interview below:

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says they did not want to make any major changes to the tax policy in the national budget because they want that stability and confidence to continue.

While speaking on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan on the confidence level not only on the business sector level but also within the country, Professor Prasad said some of the decisions they made in the budget about tax they had actually foreshadowed it.

He says they had only made small changes here and there.

While talking about the political stability of the government, Professor Prasad says he never doubts the stability of the coalition government, and people should not be overly concerned.

He says there are a lot of rumours out there than what the reality is.