The 2020-21 national budget is aimed at assisting everyone who is either directly or indirectly affected by COVID-19 and also avoid what could be the worst economic crisis.[Source: Youtube]

The 2020-21 national budget is aimed at assisting everyone who is either directly or indirectly affected by COVID-19.

This budget is also to avoid what could be the worst economic crisis.

Delivering his budget response today, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says Fiji is pressing forward with maybe the boldest national budget in the country’s history.

The Prime Minister says it’s important that Fiji build its way out of the Pandemic by working together.

“When your job is lost, you lose more than a paycheck. You lose a sense of purpose. You lose a piece of who you are as a person; as a wife, as a husband, as a provider for your family. The countless Fijians I’ve met with need help now – and they will get it. But these Fijians want more than just a handout, they want the dignity of working again. They want their businesses to open again. They want to see their country come back from the brink.”

Bainimarama says the budget provides assistance to those who need it most, with a $100 million grant in unemployment assistance.

“Mr Speaker, the Opposition can shut their eyes to these global realities all they want, I really don’t care. I put my stock in the international economic experts over failed former professors. But no Fijian should be blind to the hardship our people are facing. Nobody’s ego should block their view of what is at stake here. We have an economy to save, by any means necessary. We have people to serve.”

The Prime Minister says the stimulus budget will help employ people, build confidence, and ripple throughout the entire economy, allowing Fijians to slowly return to work and start earning again. KT