Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum

A COVID-19 Response Budget will be tabled in parliament on the 26th of March.

Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the Supplementary budget is necessary to minimise the brunt of COVID-19 which is crippling the world market.

He adds the new budget will introduce fiscal policies which will help all cross-sections of Fiji to brace against COVID-19.

“We cannot risk waiting until the close of the financial year to re-evaluate our spending priorities and take stock of our revenue streams. There are key expenditures that must be made to ensure the protection and continuation of the Fijian way of life that includes people’s health, jobs, businesses and food security”.

As the true scale of COVID-19’s effects on Fiji slowly unravels, the government admits that we are in for tough times.

However, Sayed-Khaiyum says years of economic prosperity have placed us on a strong foundation.

“Rest assured that we’ll be leveraging every channel of opportunity at our disposal to keep our economy prosperous, keep Fijians employed and keep businesses afloat. Our economy remains under prudent and responsible management, we’ll not hesitate to make tough decisions”.

Even as businesses start to report a downturn, the government is urging the private sector not to make hasty decisions.

“Keep your people employed. So long as it is safe and sustainable to do so, keep your businesses running. This is a test of perseverance that we must prove strong enough to endure”.

The Supplementary Budget debate will take place from Monday, 6th April to Thursday, 9th April 2020.