Govt policies to reduce poverty from 2013 have not worked as poverty rate has increased – Prasad

National Federation Party Leader, Professor Biman Prasad says all the policies that government was implementing to reduce the poverty rate from 2013 has not worked and government has failed to reduce poverty while Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Mahendra Reddy says without government intervention, the poverty rate could have been higher.

While speaking on the debate on the Review of the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation 2016/2017 Annual Report, Prasad says the Bureau of Statistics has revealed that the poverty figures have increased.

According to the estimates in the 2019-2020 Household Income and Expenditure Survey which was conducted from February 2019 to February 2020, about 258,053 Fijians were living in poverty pre-COVID.

Prasad says the Minister for Poverty Alleviation should order for a special audit of all poverty alleviation programs for the last four years.

The NFP Leader says all expenditure that was going into the so called poverty alleviation program must be analysed.

Prasad says if 150,000 people have lost jobs during COVID-19, we could be looking at 50 percent poverty rate now.

Dr. Reddy then called on Prasad to produce in parliament his research of each intervention that government has made to demonstrate it has failed or has been successful.

He says it is sad that Prasad is using a poverty report to say that individual interventions by various ministries have failed.

Meanwhile, SODELPA Leader, Viliame Gavoka says the FijiFirst government is crippled and they cannot think anymore.

He adds in the government, the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.