In their 3 and 5 year plans, the People’s Coalition Government proposes ‘getting the basics right’ – steady water supply, improved roads, adequate health care, and improved education.
Those are the immediate issues being addressed according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad.
Professor Prasad says while he does not want to dwell on the past, understanding the past is critical to mapping our future.
He says for too long, past Governments ignored the basic reality that an effective government must be realistically funded.
Professor Prasad says for a decade, though more particularly from about 2016, Government failed to collect the revenue we needed to ensure sound, sustainable development and necessary maintenance and improvements in our infrastructure.
He says to balance the books, they basically stopped spending on maintenance and sound infrastructure investment.
The Deputy Prime Minister says our roads, schools, hospitals, water system and other critical national assets tell this story.
He says they tell a story of neglect first, and that neglect is infinitely compounded by climate change.
Professor Prasad says the previous government borrowed excessively and spent money in ways that made little sense.
He highlights that the upgraded Queen Elizabeth Drive – a five-kilometre, single lane stretch of road which is not even a main highway - has cost us a whopping $60 million. He also says the previous Government was reckless on its student loans - it just threw money at everyone and everything and pretended that this was investing in education.
Professor Prasad says the Coalition Government has been criticised for writing off the $600 million TELS loan portfolio.
He says in reality, TELS had already written itself off as it was recovering only $5 million per year in principal and interest.
Professor Prasad adds the well-known US organisation Freedom House has just named Fiji as the world’s most improved country in 2023 in terms of political rights and civil liberties.
He says this is a reminder to us of how things used to be and how far we have come in a short space of time.
The Deputy Prime Minister says these improvements must continue.
He says without the freedom to openly and fearlessly debate economic policy, we cannot progress.
Professor Prasad says whatever some of people may think about the government’s performance so far, he thinks you would agree that on this fundamental point we have changed the environment completely.
He also acknowledged of the Leader of the Opposition, Inia Seruiratu and the leader of the Unity Fiji Party, Savenaca Narube.
The Deputy Prime Minister says we may not agree on everything or perhaps anything but that is all right.
He says economic policy should be contestable, and debating and discussing it is the first step towards a more unified approach to solving our long-term economic challenges.
He hopes the parliamentary opposition attend the next National Economic Summit
