Concerns about ballooning national debt and excessive government spending were raised during the National Post Budget Forum.

A businessman warned about the widening gap between revenue and expenditure.

He asked how the government plans to sustain current levels of spending and questioned whether enough is being invested in capital projects to stimulate revenue, rather than in consumption-heavy areas.

He also raised doubts about the efficiency of the public sector in delivering on these investments.

In his response, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad acknowledged the concern but defended the government’s fiscal path.

He stated that the coalition inherited a debt-to-GDP ratio of 90 percent from the previous administration.

He said the government has since brought that down to 77.5 percent and is working within a new macroeconomic framework focused on debt sustainability.

“So we had a growth in the GDP. In 2024-2025, we had a 77.5% debt-to-GDP ratio, and our GDP went up to 3.9%. In 2025-2026, yes, we are going for a bigger deficit because it’s deliberate. It’s what we want to do, to address the three things that we want to do.”

Prof Prasad said the current deficit was deliberate and part of a broader plan to invest in infrastructure, education, health, and other long-term development needs.

He added that a new National Development Plan now guides budgeting decisions, with implementation, monitoring, and evaluation being closely managed by the Ministry of Finance.

The Minister said Fiji’s GDP is projected to grow, and that this growth will help manage debt more sustainably.

He also urged critics to consider the broader vision, which he said stretches to 2050, rather than short-term balance sheet concerns.

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