[Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji / Facebook]

As the government marks its two-year anniversary, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad, reaffirmed their commitment to improving services and choices for the people while promoting economic growth.

Professor Prasad states that they are pleased some of the economic policies implemented by the current government are now showing positive results.

Speaking to FBC News, Professor Prasad emphasized that the government’s budgets for 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 focused on the essentials for the people, with increased spending on health, education, and social welfare.

He adds that the coalition government has managed the economy and the country with a three-pronged approach.

Professor Prasad explains that this approach includes supporting the most vulnerable through increased social welfare, implementing effective government policies, and advancing the country’s national development plan.

“Whether it’s to do with the reduction in duties, to bring the prices of some of the items down, or to increase government expenditure in building infrastructure, improving our health infrastructure, and education infrastructure, in the last two years we’ve done extremely well. I mean, if you look at what we inherited in terms of the health infrastructure, for example, the Nausori Health Center was falling apart while looking after 70,000 people We were able to with the support of the New Zealand government able to repair that, bring it to a standard where people are now very happy. So these are examples of what we’ve done.”

Professor Prasad stated that over the past two years, they have implemented several reforms with support from international partners, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and development partners, particularly Australia and New Zealand.

He expressed gratitude to the Australian government for being a strong partner in providing budget support, highlighting it as an excellent model for receiving overseas assistance and development grants.

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