Prof. Prasad says getting into politics was never about pay and focus is on delivering national budget

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad says pay for him was never an issue when he got into politics and left his job at the USP.

This comes as he will now get a salary based on the Parliamentary Remunerations Act where his salary was $235,000 and will decrease to $200,000 from 1st August.

Professor Prasad’s salary is $188,000 after a 20 percent reduction early last year when the coalition government proposed the interim measure.

However it will go up to $200,000 after Friday's parliamentary vote.

In an interview with fijivillage News, Professor Prasad says leaving his job at USP meant that he left a significant amount of salary to join politics and be in the Opposition for 8 years.

He says the party’s position was made known in the parliament and he will leave it at that.

Professor Prasad says his job is now focused on managing the finances of the country and delivering the budget and the National Development Plan is almost complete.

When questioned on the salary of teachers and civil servants, Professor Prasad says the budget is expected to look at the salaries and the step movements of all civil servants and there will be some announcements on this on June 28th.

He says this is under consideration by the Ministry of Civil Service with the Ministry of Finance. Professor Prasad says debt reduction will also be part of the agenda for the budget.

He further says they are pleased that sugarcane farmers for the first time are getting record prices of more than $100 which is partly due to an increase in international sugar prices and also because of government contribution when last year they topped up the price to $91 and put in almost $8 million.