Praneeta Prakash 
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad [Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji/Facebook]
The 2025-2026 budget targets economic growth, cuts the cost of living and protects the vulnerable.
In his right of reply in Parliament, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad explained this and also stated that the government has kept its promises and managed finances with care.
He accuses FijiFirst members of panicking and calls their claim that this is a panic budget wrong.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. We, this is a deliberate attempt to have a slightly higher deficit, so that we can cushion any direct negative impact through this transmission mechanism, and they talked about it. Tourism slowing down, remittances slowing down.”
Prof Prasad challenges critics like Opposition MP Virendra Lal over concerns about the higher deficit and spending.
Opposition MP Virendra Lal [Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji/Facebook]
He rejects claims of poor revenue management, pointing to strong tax and non-tax revenue totaling $3.95 billion.
“The increase in expenditure revenue support is targeted towards, as I said, Mr. Speaker, to ease the cost of living that we have talked about, and the number of provisions that have been highlighted by the Honorable Ministers already. So despite the higher deficit, the debt to GDP ratio is still projected to be below 80%, 79.8% of GDP, by July 2026.”
Prof Prasad adds the government has already collected 94 percent of this year’s revenue target by June, showing firm financial control.
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