Mahendra Chaudhry and Savenaca Narube

Two political party leaders have urged the government to prioritize addressing the cost of living and reducing the financial burden on vulnerable Fijians at the upcoming National Economic Summit.

Unity Fiji Party Leader Savenaca Narube, who will be a panelist at the summit, states that the summit will not be a quick solution to the challenges facing Fiji’s economy.

“So I think the sooner government articulates what it has in mind, perhaps using the inputs of the summit and add clarity to the economic development program and their fiscal projections,” I think the better. They have spent already 100 days in office; I’m for one asking, Hey, give us some sense of where we’re going.”

Mahendra Chaudhry, former Prime Minister and leader of the Fiji Labour Party, highlighted that the cost of living is affecting about 80 percent of Fiji’s population and called for the government to remain focused on people’s issues amidst the presence of various interest groups at the summit.

“And they have this Fiscal Review Committee, I don’t think they can get much out of that; they probably are going to look at tax and probably propose a tax increase, and then you have the summit, 500 people coming together, it looks like a talk first as Mr. Narube has said.”

The summit is scheduled to be held at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva from the 20th to the 21st of this month.