Aerial shot of Suva City [File Photo]

The Coalition Government has seen an increase in demand for expenditure in certain areas of priority, such as education, health, and infrastructure.

However, Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad says they are cautious about controlling expenses in the upcoming national budget.

Prasad adds the government has inherited a high level of debt, placing them in a tight situation, but it has made a lot of effort to ensure that they have the appropriate projection.

Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad

Professor Prasad says despite the government’s effort to carefully manage its finances, it is still challenged by the repayment of debt.

“Our debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to be below 80, around 79 percent, and that’s a significant positive direction that we have taken in managing our finances. Even after that … we still have a challenge; our debt repayment is around 85 to 90 million dollars per month, which is almost close to a billion dollars.”

[File Photo]

Professor Prasad says the government is focusing on addressing the cost of living.

“We have addressed some of the issues with respect to cost of living in the last budget by increasing social welfare allowances, by providing additional support to families including back-to-school support. We see that salaries and wages in the formal sector have gone up.”

The Finance Minister says thorough discussions will be held with different ministries to identify areas of priority for the new fiscal year.

The 2024–2025 national budget will be announced on the 28th of this month.