Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum [left] and NFP Leader Biman Prasad

Economic revival is critical for the government which is why it’s aggressively pursuing access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, says Fiji is suffering a double whammy with the pandemic and recent Tropical Cyclones causing steep declines in our Gross Domestic Product.

Sayed-Khaiyum says the impact of the pandemic on our economy is expected to increase our debt level further by the end of this financial year.

“With the budgeted level of borrowings for this fiscal year, debt level is projected to increase to around $8.3B or over 83 percent of GDP at the end of July 2021”.

National Federation Party Leader Biman Prasad in response to the figures highlighted says there is a need to relook at economic recovery strategy.

“I think it is very important for us to have a recovery plan not for three-years, but for five-years because the impact of COVID-19 is very serious.”

Sayed-Khaiyum says it’s unfortunate that Fiji’s economic plight has been turned into a political issue saying both side of the house need to band together.

“We want every Fijian to know that we understand what these figures really mean and we understand the stakes of our recovery. We understand it means dignity and security and that is why our economy’s revival is the most critical priority on our agenda.”

The Minister for Economy also highlighted that inflation has remained in the negative for the past 15 months and if we are stuck in this situation for a year, we risk erasing much of the progress we’ve worked for years to achieve.