Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says they have not made any decision on increasing the Value Added Tax.

He says this is because certain people are jumping the gun and creating fear among Fijians.

Professor Prasad says they will have to consider a number of factors before making a decision.

“And I know there are people who are jumping the gun analyzing, one former politician did some calculation and said, you know, if this is the VAT rate this much, this is how it’s going to affect the people. He almost said that the VAT rate has already been decided; nothing has been decided yet, you know, in terms of exactly where we’re going to anchor some of the actual policies.”

Professor Prasad also states that the budget will reflect very clearly some of the discussions that have been had.