ANZ Economists have labelled the Coalition government’s first budget as being about fulfilling election promises early, especially relating to the delivery of core services.

In a research titled Fiji’s Big Budget: Record Spending and Revenue, ANZ International Economist Doctor Kishti Sen and Senior International Economist Tom Kenny stated that the government is fulfilling most of its campaign promises through the 2023–2024 National Budget.

This includes improving core service delivery and allocating more funding towards the health, education, and water services sectors.

It also campaigned to write off the $650 million student debt loan; that promise was fulfilled in the budget, although students will have to provide in-country bonded service equivalent to 1.5 times the number of years of study.

Fiji will reopen its Overseas Missions in Washington, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea and set up a new Embassy in Israel, another election promise.

The duo stated that it is a big spending budget, with total expenditure expected to rise by 25.2% to an all-time high of $4.3 billion in this financial year. Revenue buoyed by a hike in the Value Added Tax (VAT) is also expected to reach a record $3.7 billion in 2023–2024.

This means that the official estimates will see the net deficit improving marginally from $750 million in 2022–23 to $639 million in 2023-2024.

However, because of a still high borrowing requirement, Fiji’s debt level is expected to rise from $9.9 billion (81.2% of GDP) to $10.5 billion (79.3% of GDP) in this financial year.

The research states that the increase in the rate of VAT from nine percent to 15 percent in an already high inflationary environment could see consumer demand soften, take revenue away from the government, and possibly nudge the deficit and debt levels higher.

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