FRCS expects record tax revenue of $3B by year's end

$3 billion in tax revenue is expected to be collected by the Fiji Revenue Customs Service by the end of this financial year which is probably the highest ever FRCS would collect.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Professor Biman Prasad highlighted this during the Post-Budget Breakfast this morning where he further said that if they do not implement with efficiency and effectiveness, then the intent and the objectives of some of those policies and allocations in the budget may not turn out to be as good as they intend them to be.

Professor Prasad says as a government, they have set out a foundation of policies that they felt will provide a sustainable framework which cannot only grow the economy but also over some time, reduce the country's debt to GDP ratio and reduce the deficit.

He says it's in their interest to address this fundamental issue by setting out a budget last year with some hard decisions on revenue, and tax reform and being able to bring in an additional $600 million in revenue and reduce the deficit to 4.8 percent from a double-digit deficit of the past.

The Minister for Finance says in terms of the debt to GDP ratio, they are able to reduce it to 78 percent and by the end of this financial year, it will be down to about 77.8 percent.