Hopes are high that the government will not increase VAT in the 2016/2017 National Budget.
Consumer Council of Fiji Chief Executive Premila Kumar has said consumers received the good news last year when the Finance Minister announced that VAT will be reduced from 15 to 9 percent.
Kumar said knowing that increases are expected in duties and taxes, the council is hoping that VAT does not go up.
The council has proposed that duties and taxes should be increased for items like cigarettes, alcohol and sugar sweetened drinks while duty should be reduced for essential food items.
Meanwhile, Kumar said more work needs to be done to ensure that the duty and tax reductions announced are passed down by the retailers to the consumers.
She said while some work has been done on this and some retailers have been fined, the consumers also have to play their part and report this sort of behaviour to the Consumer Council and the Commerce Commission.
Minister for Finance Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the budget will focus on intensifying rebuilding efforts after Cyclone Winston and help develop enduring climate-change mitigation measures.
He said the budget will also seek to foster a continuation of Fiji’s broad-based growth and target assistance towards the disadvantaged.
Sayed-Khaiyum said another principal area of spending will be to empower ordinary Fijians from all walks of life.
He said for the first time in Fiji’s history they have held specific and direct consultations with people living with disabilities and with high school students.
The Minister for Finance said through these consultations, disabled persons and high school students have had direct input on the inclusive budget consultations.
Public consultations were held in Labasa and Lautoka and were attended by NGOs, the business community, civil society and education institutions.
