Economist Finau Soqo has raised concerns about the execution risk in the health, education, and infrastructure sectors given the high budget allocations provided to these three sectors.

While the Economist acknowledges that it is admirable to allocate significant resources to important industries, she highlights that the execution of these projects carries the greatest risk.

According to Soqo, allocating funds is one thing, but ensuring those funds are used effectively and transparently is another challenge altogether.

“From the outside, it looks different. From the inside, it looks different. Then we have the opportunity to take measured, much more targeted approaches to what we feel will have the highest impact for the next couple of years. But the biggest risk is execution risk.”

Soqo states that the initial budget is a reflective budget, but we now have the opportunity to discuss, dialogue, and understand.

She believes that Fiji’s ambitious infrastructure plans must continue to prioritize minimizing execution risks to guarantee that the investments provide the anticipated benefits to the public.