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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says the Fiji Sun ran a false and extremely misleading story about the remuneration package of Fiji Revenue and Customs Service Chief Executive Mark Dixon.

The Minister for Finance says to report that he had defended, as Minister of Finance, the “FRCS CEO’s pay increment” was both wrong and malicious.

In a statement, Prasad says Dixon was hired by the previous FijiFirst government; he is still the head of the FRCS, and as such, there has been no change to either his salary or his work contract.

He says changes to the FRCS CEO’s salary and other conditions will have to go before the new board of the FRCS, and it is for the board to deliberate on them and make a decision.

Prasad says the newspaper ought to be asking the previous FRCS board chair as well as the previous FijiFirst government about their policy on the hiring of expatriates, termination of employment, and enforced redundancy in FRCS.

The Finance Minister says the Fiji Sun should also care to explain its editorial policy of defending the former FijiFirst government on the hiring of expatriates over locals, as evidenced by two editorials, links to which are provided.

We have sent questions to the Fiji Sun regarding this matter.