Ritika Pratap 
Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad
Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad has refuted claims that the coalition government will take away social welfare benefits, the free education scheme, and other assistance provided to Fijians.
Professor Prasad says while his Ministry is working on its 2023–2024 National Budget processes, Fijians will always remain paramount in whatever they decide.
The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that a lot of lies that were perpetrated before the election are still being pursued by those individuals who have become irrelevant.
“But let me assure the people, that this government is focused on the economy, on the people, and making sure that not only do we not take away any benefits from the people, but also improve on it and build on it.”
Professor Prasad says the large majority of the people understand the situation, and know what the government has done in the past four months.
“We started really well by making sure that while we concentrate on the economy we look after our people. You will remember the first thing that the government did in the first month before the school opened was to allocated $50m and we helped more than 214, 000 students by giving them $200 each. And we have seen the impact of this.”
Fijians are currently benefiting from social welfare programs, which include the Poverty Benefit Scheme, Child Protection Allowance, the Food Voucher Program, Social Pension Scheme and the Bus Fare Subsidy.
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