Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka

An all-important week for government as cabinet will deliberate on funding allocations for the upcoming national budget.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka states that throughout the year, advice and opinions have been gathered on what the new budget should entail, however the government has announced plans to address critical issues such as drainage, roads, and water infrastructure.

The Prime Minister says the government made some bold announcements in the last budget as the nation was recovering, and in some areas, the government was overly generous.

Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad agrees with the Prime Minister about being overly generous.

“I think the Prime Minister is right because in the last so many years the government was underfunded, we were not collecting enough revenue and we were funding things that we should not have funded so people got used to a lot of these things being paid by government.”

It will be the coalition government’s second budget, and Prasad says they have to re-look at priorities.

He will announce the 2024-25 National Budget next Friday.