Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the Fiji Labour Party and the National Federation Party have joined SODELPA’s chorus of lies.
Bainimarama says they are also guilty of manipulating facts to mislead everyone to think that the poverty rate in Fiji stands at around 50 percent.
He says this distortion is despicable.
The Prime Minister says the reality is that poverty has been on a steady decline over the past decade shrinking from 35 percent to 31 percent to 28 percent in 2014.
“While the backdated survey that the Opposition selectively quotes, their care tactics completely ignore the significant economic progress that Fiji has achieved in recent years. To suggest that poverty is on the rise when, every day, we see more Fijians joining the job market and buying homes and cars is blind to the reality of our ongoing progress.”
The Prime Minister says a new survey will be conducted this year to determine the current poverty rate.
However, he says all signs are pointing that the rate will continue its downward trend.
