2023-2024 National Budget Address

“Rebuilding Our Future Together”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Strategic

Planning, National Development & Statistics

Honourable Professor Biman C Prasad

Friday, 30 June 2023

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1. Mr. Speaker Sir.

2. The Honourable Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Leader of

Opposition and fellow Members of Parliament - a very good
morning to you all.

3. Mr Speaker Sir, I also welcome all Fiji citizens who have joined
us this morning via television, radio, live streaming on the
Parliament Website or through our various Facebook pages.

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4. I will try to keep this address as short as possible Mr. Speaker.
However, I realise that people want to know the critical
measures in this Budget which will affect them – but I aim to get
through this speech in less than two hours, we have a Budget
Supplement and Budget Estimates for the finer details that will
be online as well.

5. Mr Speaker Sir I want to try first to set the scene for the
Government’s current financial situation and the state of the
economy as well as the Government’s priorities in the coming
financial year. Then I will outline Government’s revenue
measures and policies and the allocations made to our various
Government ministries.

Setting the scene

6. Mr Speaker, the people of Fiji gave their verdict on 14 December

2022. Our people voted for change.

7. People voted for freedom after an era of unnecessary and

sometimes brutal control and suppression of their opinions. They
wanted their voices to be heard. They wanted to be involved in

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 the running of their country and to have a say in what their
Government should do for them. They wanted their Government
to be more accountable and their leaders to treat them with
respect. After all Mr Speaker Sir, everyone in this house is paid
by the taxpayers. We are here to serve the people of Fiji. We are
not here to rule over them.

8. Our people, Mr Speaker Sir, want a democracy that exists not

on paper but in practice. They want respect for human rights,
media freedom, rule of law and good governance. They want
water in their taps and better health facilities. They want better
roads, undisrupted electricity and improved transportation. They
want their children to get better education. affordable housing
and improvement in living standards. They want better paid jobs.
The Coalition Government also wants this for them.

9. And Mr. Speaker Sir, these are just a few of the many reasons
why people voted for change. And this has led to the People’s
Coalition Government - a government of the people, by the
people and for the people led by the Prime Minister Honourable
Sitiveni Rabuka. The people’s Prime Minister.

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 What must change

10. Mr Speaker as part of that change let me start with how the
National Budget process will change.

11. I promised a few days ago that we would deliver the Budget
on time. This is not a small point. We know that in past years
there have been delays, sometimes for hours, in the delivery of
the Budget – whether from disorganisation or indecision, I do not
know. But this was disrespectful, not just of the members of this
House but to all the people of Fiji.

12. It was this same disrespect reflected in a government which

made decisions at whim and without consultation, which
rammed almost all of its legislation through this House under
urgency provisions and without proper consultation and which
insulted and threatened those with differing views. And this is
the first thing that has changed.

13. Last month the Honourable Prime Minister’s remark to the

people of a village in Vanua Levu, was quoted in the media
where he thanked the previous Government for the work it had

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 done in national development. He pointed out that national
development was now the responsibility of his government. He
said, and I quote, “after us there will be another team…we all
play a role and we should hear each other out and help out in
whatever way we can”, unquote.

14. Mr Speaker, this is respectful and gracious leadership. This is

leadership that respects what our predecessors have done, and
which understands that governments other than ours will hold
power one day. And I hope that we on our side, now that we are
in power, can remember that, as the Honourable Prime Minister
said, we all have a role to play.

15. Mr Speaker, everyone expects me today to talk about

economics. But let me remind everyone of the old maxim, well
understood by good scientists, good environmentalists - and
good economists – that “everything is connected to everything
else.” We cannot progress until we have rebuilt trust and
unity. We must rebuild an environment in which people are
encouraged to speak out, to complain, to suggest alternative
approaches, to draw our attention to the things that matter to
them. We must rebuild confidence in our business and

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 productive sectors that we will respond to their needs, not just
lecture them about what we think they are doing wrong.

16. And Mr Speaker, we want to do this with humility, with an

openness to criticism and a willingness to listen. We know that
in the term of this government things will go wrong. We will make
mistakes. We will not hide from them. We will not pretend that
we are perfect. We trust the people to understand that not
everything will go well. But this is part of rebuilding trust and
confidence and public participation in government. And good
leadership must be at the core of every government.

17. Mr. Speaker Sir, we want change to be reflected in the Budget

process. After I complete this address, the House adjourns until
Monday 10th July for the Budget debate. And I want to advise
the Honourable Leader of the Opposition and his team that in
the coming week, Ministry of Finance officials will make
themselves available to meet the Opposition Parliamentarians if
they wish, to clarify any aspects of the Budget and to give them
any information they require.

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18. Mr. Speaker Sir, this is because we want the Opposition to be
informed and to contribute constructively to the budget debate.
We respect the Opposition as representatives of the people, just
as we are.

What have we inherited

19. But now, Mr Speaker, let us face a few uncomfortable facts.

20. We are a six-month-old government with a mandate to deliver

change. But what we have walked into is a deeply grim state of
affairs.

21. We have a national economy that is on the mend again after

COVID. The Macroeconomic Committee is predicting an 8%
growth for the 2023 calendar year, mainly on the back of better-
than-expected tourism receipts. Before we engage in too much
self-congratulation on this, we should remember that this is
merely a return to the state of our pre-COVID economy.

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22. This is catch-up growth to get us back to where we started in
2019. The real challenges for economic growth start
now. Because let us face another uncomfortable fact. In the last
10 years, despite all the boasting and big talk about booms and
“never before this” and “unprecedented before that”, our
average economic growth has been little more than 3% per
annum. And that is not enough to significantly improve lives and
incomes in our country. We must do better than this.

23. And let me remind everyone, Mr Speaker that the COVID

pandemic was not the underlying cause of our problems. Covid
certainly made them worse. But this has been a decade of
missed opportunities.

24. Poor revenue and spending decisions – for years and

including during the Covid crisis – have
undermined Government finances and now left the Government
deeply in debt. National infrastructure has been ignored, with
highly visible consequences.

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25. Our Government has been left scrambling to fix infrastructure
problems for which no money has been budgeted, because for
years there has been no money for maintenance. In the last
decade we have spent over $600 million on the TELS scheme.
But what was supposed to be a revolving fund of repaid money
to support the next generation of students is not there. It was not
being repaid because they could not find jobs, or paid low wages
and salaries and there was a mismatch in workforce needs and
what our students were getting qualifications for.

26. It remains a mystery to us how $120 million has been spent

on the Walesi national digital platform – and we now have to find
out where this ridiculous amount of money went. My colleague
and Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Manoa Kamikamica has this
firmly in his sights.

27. Mr Speaker Sir, we inherited a public debt of close to $10

billion dollars, almost the size of our entire economy. In the
upcoming financial year, we must find a staggering $1 billion
dollars to service this debt. That is about $536 million
dollars for interest payments and another $516 million
dollars for principal repayments alone. In other words, almost

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 one dollar out every four in this Budget must now be spent
servicing Government debt. During my one-on-one
consultations on the budget with Coalition Cabinet Ministers,
who I also want to commend for their considerate understanding,
this was the same starting point of the discussions about their
plans for the new budget year. Our ability to spend on capital
works, maintenance, upgrades and incentivize our precious
human capital that we are losing daily, is crowded out by dinau
and debt.

28. Mr Speaker Sir, we inherited a national health system on the

verge of collapse. In the last few days we have learned that the
new Navua Hospital, built 10 years ago, on which completion
was never properly certified, cannot keep the power and water
going. It will need an overhaul which will cost more than $10
million. But this is just one example of the crisis we face in
almost all our health facilities.

29. The CWM Hospital still has no laundry, years after a fire there.
Levuka Hospital’s mortuary has finally failed. Most of
our hospitals are in shocking physical condition. The
toilets are not working. There are long queues of people waiting

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 for hours in need of urgent health care. Medical equipment is not
working. Essential drugs and medicines are not available on
time. We lack 800 nurses. Doctors and other exhausted health
professionals are treated poorly and not listened to when they
offer solutions. This is the consequence of years of serious
neglect of health infrastructure and services.

30. Mr Speaker Sir, we inherited a disaster in the water

sector. Thousands of households still struggle with daily water
disruptions. Half of the water that we collect and treat for people
to use is lost because it leaks through an aged pipe network. We
will need hundreds of millions of dollars to fix it.

31. How did we get into this mess? Because, for more than 10
years, a two-men Government did not raise nor save enough
money due to prudent financial management. But those two
men still wanted to spend. They were focused on the TV
cameras and the political goodies. They did not want to hear
bad news and kept it hidden if it arrived. They threatened and
intimidated people who wanted to bring problems to the
attention of the public. And yet neither of those two men, are now
in this House to account for their actions. For all that Mr

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 Speaker, we look now to the Leader of the Opposition and his
team. We want to work with them on finding solutions to our
problems. But we must first understand why we are in this
difficult position and learn lessons for the future.

32. Some people, will accuse me of talking only about the past.
But this is not the past. This is our present. As a doctor once
told me, “90% of a patient’s diagnosis is his/her
history.” Because it is now that we must find the money to fix
these problems. It is now that we must find the money to meet
our debt servicing payments. Our people’s present and future
choices are now restricted by those poor decisions of the past.

33. Mr. Speaker Sir, these are problems that have accumulated
over 15 years. And many of them will take years to fix. And for
that we will have to ask our people for patience and goodwill.

How have we started our administration

34. Let me now talk about how we are going to deal with these
challenges. Mr Speaker, nations are not only built by
politicians and leaders making grand speeches and opening

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 new buildings. They are built by people, on the foundations of
unity and mutual cooperation. Most nation builders work quietly
and out of the limelight. They serve their communities as good
employers, as public servants who work long hours, as
provincial and district councilors, in charities and religious
organisations and NGOs, in pro bono professional work. These
are the people we must empower. These are the nation builders
who we, as a government, must serve. Mr Speaker this
Government values our people, their ideas and their aspirations.
We believe in consultation and dialogue. So Mr Speaker Sir, the
first necessary step we took in government was to bring our
people together to hear their ideas and concerns, after 16 years
in which they had not been heard.

35. We had a successful National Economic Summit where key

stakeholders including private sector, trade unions, academia,
civil society organizations, women’s groups, youth
organizations, development partners and the general public
participated in a free and open dialogue process which will help
to shape national priorities for inclusive and sustainable
development.

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36. The 14-member Fiscal Review Committee was appointed
and conducted their own consultations and deliberations with
public servants, economic experts – and the people. In a short
nine-week span they produced a comprehensive report with
over 100 recommendations to reset our fiscal priorities towards
sustainability, stability and resiliency. I take this
opportunity, Mr Speaker Sir, to thank the Chairman, Mr. Richard
Naidu and the other 13 sterling members for their service to this
nation. The outcomes of both the Economic Summit, and the
Fiscal Review Committee report, and the Education Summit
outcomes among other plans will contribute towards the framing
of our umbrella National Development Plan.

37. Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to also thank the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, and
all other partners that provided clear and honest views and
recommendations during the Government’s transition process. It
was at those moments, where it dawned on us just how right we
were, when we used to ask the hard questions about money
when we sat on the other side.

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38. Mr. Speaker Sir, the news media also plays a crucial role in
this entire dialogue process. One of our first acts in Government
was to repeal the repressive Media Industry Development Act
that has plagued our media industry and kept the people in the
dark. We want people to express themselves freely. We want
to hear their concerns.

39. Mr. Speaker Sir, we have moved quickly to rebuild confidence

and trust between the public service and the government.
Permanent appointments in the civil service have been
reinstated and the retirement age has been moved from 55 years
to 60 years, providing civil servants with the
employment security they need to do their work. That work is to
provide honest and independent advice to their Ministers,
without the fear, as they used to say, of being “sent home”.

40. Mr Speaker, in our first few weeks in Government we

redeployed $100 million to support our families and other urgent
priorities including a $200 dollar “Back to School” payment
for children from low-income households. We provided
additional funding to continue the 10 percent reduction in bus
fares until the end of July 2023. We did this mainly to give

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 assurance to our people that, even with a new government,
they would continue to be supported through challenging times.

41. We have begun to rebuild trust with our leading university,

the University of the South Pacific. Once again Mr Speaker, let
us pause to reflect on how backward and petty Fiji looked only
six months ago. It was involved in a pointless fight with USP. It
had held back more than $80 million in committed funds, money
that Fiji’s own students needed for their education. It had
deported USP’s vice-chancellor - all because two men did not
like him. No government should abuse its power over public
funds in that way.

42. And so, even though funds are tight, we have begun the
process of paying to USP what we owe. We are the Government,
Mr Speaker. We represent the people of Fiji. We must be seen
to be trustworthy and ready to keep our promises, even to people
with whom we disagree.

43. And just as important, Mr Speaker, is the initiative that the

Honourable Prime Minister has begun to rebuild relationships
between Fiji and the countries in our region, which were nearly

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 destroyed by the arrogance and disrespect of our previous
leaders. We must regain the trust of our neighbours. Our very
existence depends on us, all working together to solve the critical
problems posed by climate change and environmental
degradation. Fiji used to be seen as a leader which could bring
the region together. That is a position to which Fiji must return.

44. We provided additional funding to the Fiji Roads Authority for

urgent road works. We supported other quick infrastructure
upgrades, including some of our health facilities.

45. We successfully held Girmit Day commemorations, and we

celebrated Ratu Sukuna Day, thus reaffirming the unique rights
and places of people from our major ethnic groups. These were
powerful events which have set us on a path of national
reconciliation. They demonstrate that, as a government, we
embrace our cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. We are not
afraid of it. We do not ignore or suppress it. We celebrate it. We
take strength from it. We know that we can build unity from
it. And that is where, as a government, we must begin the task
of rebuilding. As I said Mr Speaker: “Everything is connected to
everything else. “

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 Unveiling the Budget - Rebuilding Our Future Together

46. Today Mr Speaker Sir, we unveil our plans, with clear

strategies and financial commitments, for the next fiscal year. I
have already talked about rebuilding. And this is our
vision: “Rebuilding Our Future Together”. And it is
my honour and privilege to present the first National Budget of
the People’s Coalition Government.

47. This budget is an outcome of the numerous consultations and

dialogue we have had with a diverse group of stakeholders all
across Fiji. We have talked to various industry groups, private
sector businesses and entrepreneurs. We have heard from our
youth, our women, our elderly and the vulnerable. We have met
the trade unions, civil society groups, and other grassroot
organizations.

48. Mr Speaker Sir, we have listened to many experts locally and

internationally. We have worked with our development partners,
multilateral agencies and lenders. We have had long hours with
the civil servants, including all Ministers and permanent
secretaries over the last two months, including long and tough

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 negotiations. I also extend my deepest appreciation to the
Permanent Secretary and Ministry of Finance staff who have
worked tirelessly – and I suspect with some relief that these days
they are not on call at random hours of the night, and that many
of them can have some semblance of quality time with their
families, because we put this budget together in a more
organised way.

49. After almost a decade, Mr Speaker Sir, we reconvened the

Cabinet Sub-Committee on Budget chaired by the Honourable
Prime Minister and comprising the 3 Deputy Prime Ministers.
The Cabinet Subcommittee on Budget, Mr Speaker Sir, oversaw
the overall formulation and finalization of the national budget and
I take this opportunity to thank the Hon. Prime Minister for
his leadership and the support and the comradeship of my 2
fellow Deputy Prime Ministers. This is consultative government
Mr Speaker, not two-man government. Those days are over.

50. Mr. Speaker Sir, even with the major challenges the
Government faces, this Budget is set against the backdrop of a
renewed sense of optimism and confidence. As I have said, our
economy is recovering faster than we had expected and is now

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 projected to grow by around 8 percent this year. Given the trends
we are seeing, Mr. Speaker Sir, growth may be even higher. Not
everything is ideal. Higher interest rates threaten the global
economy. This also puts pressure on us and the interest we may
have to pay on our loans from offshore. It may also put pressure
on our exchange rates, making imports more expensive. The
economies of Australia and New Zealand appear to be slowing.
So we will review our projections later this year when we have
more concrete statistics available with us.

51. Mr. Speaker Sir, the tourism industry has been doing
extremely well with a strong rebound in visitor arrivals which will
return to pre-pandemic levels, or even exceed that. Yields in the
tourism industry are increasing as our tourists are spending
much more than before and staying slightly longer. But we know
that we cannot depend on tourism alone. We have all learned
that bitter lesson in the last three years.

52. Mr. Speaker Sir, investment levels are picking up with a

pipeline of major projects that are getting off the ground. The
banks have informed us that demand for credit is increasing and
we know of some major projects that will soon materialize. Our

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 foreign exchange levels remain strong, standing at over $3.4
billion dollars as of yesterday, equivalent to almost 6.1 months
of retained imports. The exchange rate is stable and well
protected.

53. Our financial sector is sound with a strong capital position.

Liquidity levels are more than adequate to support investments
sitting at almost $2.5 billion dollars. Remittances crossed the
billion-dollar mark last year and are increasing further, likely to
cross the $1.2 billion dollar mark by the end of this year. Mr
Speaker, it is only fitting at this juncture to extend the Coalition
Government's deepest gratitude, Vinaka Vakalevu and
Dhanyavad, to all our families and friends abroad who continue
to support our people here, in such a moving and heartfelt way.

54. On the fiscal front, this Budget stabilizes our revenue and debt
levels and puts them on a sustainable path. We began the fiscal
year, in July 2022, with a debt to GDP ratio of almost 88.8%. We
are projecting this to reduce to 79.3 percent of GDP by July
2024. But the bad news is that this ratio is still too high. We have
too much Government debt for the size of our economy. As I
have said, nearly 25% of the Government Budget this year will

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 go to servicing debt. And debt remains one of our biggest
challenges. We must continue to carefully manage our revenue
and spending.

55. In this Budget, Mr. Speaker Sir, our total expenditure is $4.3
billion. With a projected revenue of $3.7 billion, our fiscal deficit
is set at $639 million dollars, equivalent to 4.8 percent of GDP.
This is a major reduction in the deficit. In the last four fiscal years
the average deficit has been 9 percent.

56. This deficit is higher than I personally wanted Mr Speaker.

However, we are at a critical point. We must continue to cushion
the blow on our people. We must catch up on all the lost years
without investment in infrastructure and maintenance. If we do
not do this our future path of economic growth will be affected.
At the same time, we are pursuing further fiscal consolidation –
that is, better value spending and cost savings - to ensure that
we urgently bring down Government debt parameters to a
sustainable level. But to achieve this, we will have to swallow
some bitter medicine now otherwise we could end up in a worst
financial situation.

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 Taxes and major revenue policies

57. Mr. Speaker Sir, every Government has to collect taxes to

fund public expenditure. It is a delicate task to ensure that we
collect the right amount and not over tax the economy and our
people. But revenue adequacy is critical in the running of the
Government. It's equally important that in this process of
collecting revenues our tax system is simple, easy to comply
with, easy to administer, and transparent, efficient, and
equitable.

58. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker Sir, we cannot deny the fact that
for many years the Government was bereft of vision to raise
funds other than to keep on borrowing until debt hit the roof.
Popularism and electioneering were their only They cost the
nation billions of dollars in lost revenue, pushing debt to
unsustainable levels. This also meant the deterioration and lack
of maintenance of Government infrastructure and poor service
delivery. The Government simply didn't have enough money to
fix its assets and services.

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59. It is very clear from the World Bank Public Expenditure
Review, various International Monetary Fund reports, from the
report of the Fiscal Review Committee and from the
deliberations of the National Economic Summit - and all the
expert views. The Government cannot continue to run with the
current low levels of revenues generated through its low tax
regime. And now we have a debt overload that we must urgently
confront. Business as usual cannot continue. And from the
feedback I have received, our people understand that. They
may not like it, but they understand the problem.

60. Mr. Speaker, we need to put an end to this problem, quickly

and decisively. The time to act is now. If we don’t, we will be
clearly on the path to fiscal disaster. We will only further weaken
Government’s ability to perform its core functions, including to fix
our deep infrastructure challenges including in water, health,
roads and bridges – and to protect our most vulnerable.

61. We have tough choices, Mr. Speaker. We fully understand

the expectations of the people, particularly on the prices of food
and basic items. But we are here to make the tough decisions
that were side-stepped in the past. We are here to make the

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 right decisions for the nation. It's a choice between bearing the
burden now or burdening our future generations with more debt.
It is also about ensuring that our next generations get the health
education and the employment opportunities they need now. We
have to invest in our future generations – our young people - now
to ensure that they will be productive in the future. It is our
moment to put a down payment for them.

62. Against this context, Mr. Speaker Sir, let me now announce
key revenue and tax measures.

63. Effective from 1 August 2023, Mr. Speaker Sir, we will only
have 2 rates of VAT. The 21 items on zero VAT will continue.
We have added prescribed medicines to the list to make it 22
items. So now the items on zero VAT will include, flour, rice,
sugar, canned fish, cooking oil, potato, onion, garlic, baby milk,
powdered milk, liquid milk, dhal, tea, salt, soap, soap powder,
toilet paper, sanitary pads, toothpaste, kerosene, cooking and
prescribed medicines. The supply of all other goods and
services, effective from 1 August 2023 will attract a VAT rate of
15 percent. Mr Speaker, 15% VAT isn’t new. It was payable on
all goods and services between 2011-2015 except on six (6)

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 basic food items it was zero. Therefore 15% is not a new
measure. As the Honourable Prime Minister said in his national
address on Wednesday night, we have to bite the bullet. But in
a few years, all of us will discover that it’s a magic bullet that may
give us short term pain but result in long term gain.

64. These measures will generate additional net VAT collections

estimated at about $446 million for Government. But this
restructuring will make the VAT system simpler to administer,
eliminate ambiguity and improve VAT compliance. While we
generate additional revenue for public investment, we have
chosen to ensure that the poor are protected with the
continuation of the zero rating and various expenditure support
measures.

65. Mr. Speaker, the strongest feedback we have received is

about lowering food prices. So, to assist households on this,
Government will reduce fiscal duty from 32 percent to 15 percent
on canned mackerel (except canned tuna), corned mutton,
corned beef and beef products, canned tomatoes, prawns and
duck meat. Fiscal duty on sheep / lamb meats will be reduced to
zero. Beef meat the duty is being reduced from 32%to 15%.

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66. Government will also reduce import excise on chicken
portions such as wings, drumstick, legs, feet, thighs, etc from 15
percent to 0 percent. The reduction of duties will provide ordinary
households with a range of choices.

67. I turn now to corporate tax Mr. Speaker. We will increase the
corporate tax rate from the current 20 percent to 25 percent. New
companies eligible for reduced corporate tax for listing on the
South Pacific Stock Exchange will have their tax rate increased
from the current 10 percent to 15 percent. For clarity, this will be
for new companies and only for a period of 7 years. These
corporate tax rate increases will add about $73.5 million in
revenue. We are encouraged by the feedback we have had from
the business sector Mr Speaker. Most businesses understand
Government’s fiscal situation and that they need to contribute
more. In return, however, they want the Government to improve
the regulatory environment and business processes. I will come
back to that.

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68. At this point Mr Speaker we are keeping an open mind on
shareholders’ income, and whether we will in future implement
an imputation system or a simpler tax on dividends. This is a
matter on which we will be consulting widely before the next
Budget, before we take any such measures.

69. Departure tax, Mr. Speaker Sir, will increase from the current
$100 dollars to $125 dollars effective from 1 August 2023 and
will further increase by an additional $15 dollars to $140 dollars
effective from 1 January 2024. This will add a total of $30 million
towards overall tax revenues. We are signaling these increases
as early as we can so that the tourism industry can plan for them
in their wholesaling and other commercial arrangements.

70. Mr. Speaker Sir, we are going to increase the excise tax on
alcohol and tobacco by 5 percent while the excise on carbonated
/ sugar-sweetened beverages will be increased from 35 cents
per litre to 40 cents per litre.

71. Mr. Speaker Sir, alcohol taxes were reduced by 50% during
COVID, while taxes on tobacco were kept unchanged. We are
mindful that alcoholic beverages are an integral part of our

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 tourism industry. So we are starting with a very small increase
compared to the massive reduction we had two years ago.

72. In determined efforts to curb NCDs and promote healthy

living, a domestic excise of 40 cents per kilogram or per litre and
import excise of 15 percent will be introduced on juice
(carbonated drinks, Frubu, Tampico, Pulpy, Just Juice and
Marigold), ice cream, sweet biscuits, snacks, and sugar
confectionery.

73. Motor vehicle import excise duty will increase on all new and
used passenger vehicle by an additional 5 percent.

74. Mr. Speaker, I intend to touch briefly now on a serious matter

of good governance, in connection with Capital Gains Tax. In
2021, just a few weeks after the beginning of the 2021-2022
financial year, the previous Government introduced a special
exemption on the 10% capital gains tax levied on the disposal of
shares held by shareholders before 1 May 2011. The
Government did this without explanation and, of course, under
urgency – as it did everything.

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75. However, that government also introduced an even more
special measure. Any taxpayer who owed capital gains tax from
a previous unexempted transaction but had not yet paid it, was
now exempted from paying the debt. The exemption did not
work in the other direction. If you were a compliant taxpayer and
you had paid the tax, you did not get it back. But if you were a
taxpayer who owed the tax because you had not paid it, you
were suddenly exempted from payment.

76. In opposition we asked the same question that we ask now –

why? And for whose special benefit was this special tax
exemption?

77. Mr Speaker, that special law, for certain special taxpayers, or

should I say one taxpayer was one of the most disgraceful and
corrupt pieces of legislation ever to be brought before this
House. It was a sign of just how self-serving the previous
government had become, and how poor our governance had
become. A government that is making special laws for its
chosen special people is a government that does not deserve to
be in office.

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78. Mr Speaker this random change to the capital gains tax
regime, designed to help a specific set of special taxpayers,
ended up costing the Government almost $70 million in lost
revenue. We are now going to right this wrong and remove this
exemption.

79. Mr. Speaker Sir the Social Responsibility Tax will be simplified
by merging it with the PAYE structure, along with a 5-percentage
points reduction on each band, for those earning above
$270,000, effective from 1 January 2024. This would mean Mr.
Speaker Sir, that our maximum marginal tax rate will be reduced
from the current 44 percent to 39 percent.

80. Mr. Speaker Sir, Government has been losing significant

revenue from a range of tax and customs concessions that have
been in place in Fiji for a very long time. Given the fiscal
challenges facing us we have reviewed these concessions and,
in some cases, varied the rates. Customs concession code 236
which currently allows all manufacturers to access duty free raw
materials and other machinery and equipment, will have the
concession rate increased from zero percent to 3 percent. Still a

31
 concession, Mr. Speaker Sir, but Government will get 3 percent
duty from all these imports.

81. Similarly, Mr. Speaker Sir, for concession code 231 which is
available to manufacturers for import of packaging products, that
concessionary rate will also be increased from zero to 3 percent.

82. Mr. Speaker Code 235 allows hotels and resorts to import
building materials, furnishings and fittings, room amenities,
kitchen and dining room equipment, utensils and outdoor
equipment all duty free. We will increase the fiscal duty on this
concession from 0 to 3 percent.

83. Concession code 117 (iii) which allows for a reduced duty of
10 cents per litre of fuel for hotels, manufacturers, cruise vessels
and mining companies will be removed and a normal rate of 20
cents per litre on diesel will apply. Concession on smartphones
will be removed and replaced with a fiscal duty of 5 percent.

84. Mr. Speaker Sir, we will completely remove the tax incentives
available for warehouse development. This was introduced as a
temporary incentive. It will also help reduce tax minimisation

32
 using this incentive which we have noted in the last few years.
We are also restructuring the ICT incentive to tighten the
definition and eligibility criteria and align the maximum tax
holiday period to 13 years in line with other incentives.

85. Removing these few customs concessions which will help us

collect much-needed revenue by around $35 million.

86. Apart from tax raising measures, Mr. Speaker Sir, we are
announcing a number of measures to improve tax administration
and supporting ease of doing business.

Expenditures

87. Mr. Speaker Sir, over the years, the Government has spent a
lot of money building new infrastructure and assets with little
focus on value for money and a lot of wastage. Worse, it has
taken its focus off maintenance of our existing infrastructure.
This is now suffering from years of neglect and has badly
deteriorated.

33
88. So we are now in a catch-up mode on maintenance. Public
infrastructure assets, Mr. Speaker Sir, are the foundation of a
country’s economic development and let me assure you that the
highest priority of the Coalition Government for the next few
national budgets is going to be maintenance of this
infrastructure. We have put aside over $200 million dollars for
maintenance of our hospitals, health centres, schools, public
buildings, government quarters, roads and bridges and water
infrastructure.

89. But Mr. Speaker Sir, it's not just about throwing more money
at every problem. We are completely changing our approach
towards this. The focus now will be on efficient and effective use
of every single dollar.

90. We are going to cut wastage and unnecessary spending by

starting ourselves. And we will start this from the Ministerial level
to set an example. Apart from our 20 percent reduced pay we
are significantly cutting down Ministerial travel allowances that
were put in place by the previous government. They amounted
to looting taxpayer funds, ironically by Ministers who should be
guarding them.

34
91. Mr. Speaker, all Coalition Government Ministers support
these reductions, starting with the Honourable Prime Minister
himself. For the travel allowance of the Honourable Prime
Minister, the current 250 percent per diem loading will be
reduced to only 100 percent. Ministers will have their top up
reduced from 200 percent to only 50 percent. For assistant
Ministers the top up will be reduced from the current 100 percent
to 25 percent. Apart from these major reductions, we will remove
all the exorbitant incidental allowances that are currently
provided.

Improving Water Services

92. Mr. Speaker Sir, the poor maintenance and upgrade of our
existing water infrastructure has resulted in 47 percent of treated
water getting lost along the pipeline due to leakage. This has
caused major intermittent water supplies across Fiji.

93. However, in the last few months, Mr. Speaker Sir, we have
seen some major improvements. Water disruptions have been
reduced and we now have a good plan, not just for the next year

35
 but also for the long term. The new Water Authority of Fiji Board
has hit the ground running, with a clear mandate to get things
done.

94. Mr. Speaker Sir, we are scaling up our investment in the water
sector with an increased budget of $250.8 million dollars. Yes,
this year we will put a quarter billion dollars into the water
system. This is a major increase of almost $60 million dollars
compared to the current budget. This includes $118.1 million in
operating expenditures and $132.7 million for capital
expenditure.

95. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Rewa River Viria Water project is
expected to be completed by the end of July with full
commissioning expected by October this year. This has been a
major investment and we will see major improvements in supply
after the full commissioning of the project.

96. Mr Speaker, we are allocating $51.2 million dollars for the

completion of the project. The total cost of the project is
approximately $400 million dollars. I thank our financing
partners, the Asian Development Bank, the European

36
 Investment Bank and the Green Climate Fund for grant support
of US$31 million dollars towards this project.

97. Mr. Speaker, $53.9 million dollars is allocated to improve

water sources and implement new disaster resilient
infrastructure, including water treatment facilities with a focus on
reducing leakages; $6.4 million dollars to improve wastewater
operations; and $4.8 million allocated for asset management
within the Water Authority.

98. Another $4.6 million is allocated, Mr. Speaker Sir, for the
digital transformation in the water sector which will help manage
and water disruptions. A further $3.8 million is allocated for
emergency response in the event of water disruption.

99. Mr. Speaker Sir, we are allocating $7.9 million to focus on

improving access to water supplies in rural areas which has
been neglected for some time.

100. Mr. Speaker Sir, given the magnitude of the challenge we

have in the water sector, it's going to take time and cost over
$500 million in replacement of the 40 year old pipe system which

37
 is leaking underground. We are working with the Asian
Development Bank for a major institutional revamp of the Water
Authority, including governance, investment planning, asset
management, infrastructure replacement and upgrade, review of
water tariffs, investment in our people and improving customer
service management.

Workers’ rights and restoring FNPF contributions

101. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Coalition Government has, as promised,

restored tripartite arrangement that we had for many years and
we will use this to ensure the rights of workers are respected
through dialogue and consultation with government and
employers.

102. Mr. Speaker Sir, the previous Government had deprived our
workers of hundreds of millions in their FNPF contribution by
reducing the contribution rate from 18 percent to 10 percent. We
will restore the18 percent effective from 1 January 2024.

103. Mr. Speaker Sir, Government is the largest employer in the

country employing over 35,000 civil servants. As the largest

38
 employer, we are committed to looking after the welfare of our
people. We are working together with the workers
representatives to review the overall pay and benefits of our civil
servants. We know this has not been done for almost 5 years
and our hardworking civil servants and our teachers, police,
medical professionals have not received a pay rise for some
time. In the next 6 to 9 months. We will holistically review the civil
service remuneration and pending the review the salary
structure of the civil service will be readjusted to be
commensurate with the work our civil servants are doing for the
nation.

104. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Coalition Government will review the
current minimum wage rate in the next financial year. We want
our workers to receive a fair and just living wage through a
proper consultative process.

Social Protection, Aftercare fund and Government pensions

105. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is the moral responsibility of any

compassionate Government to ensure that most vulnerable in
our society, the poor, persons with disabilities, elderly, children

39
 or other disadvantaged persons are well supported by the State.
We need well-equipped, responsive institutions and laws that
ensure that our vulnerable are not left out.

106. Mr. Speaker Sir, the government is committed to building a

responsive, inclusive, and well targeted social protection system
which is at the heart of one of the Coalition Government’s key
development agenda.

107. Mr. Speaker Sir, in this Budget, the funding allocation for the
Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection is increased
from $147.7 million to $200.2 million, a major increase of $52.5
million.

108. Mr. Speaker, more than 90 thousand people on social welfare

will directly benefit from increased monthly allowances of 15 and
25 percent.

109. For those at the age of 70 years and above, and are on the
social pension system, will receive a 25% increase. This means
that the monthly allowance will increase from $100 dollars a
month to $125 a month effective August 2023. Those between

40
 the age of 65 to 69 years will have their monthly allowances
increased from $100 to $115 dollars.

110. As such Mr. Speaker Sir, the social pension scheme is

allocated a large budget of $78.2 million, an increase of $23.2
million to cater for the needs of our 54,200 senior citizens.

111. Mr. Speaker Sir, the military regime in 2011 unilaterally and
illegally reduced the pension rates for many FNPF pensioners
and broke the contractual arrangement between the Fund and
the pensioners. They went even further to pass a law to restrict
these pensioners from challenging this in the court or law.

112. It's over a decade, Mr Speaker Sir, and these pensioners have
not received justice. Today we are going to correct this wrong
and give some justice to the more than 1,500 pensioners who
were put on the reduced pension rates.

113. Effective from August 2023, these 1,500 FNPF pensioners will
be able to access the Government social pension allowance of
$125 if they are above the age of 70 or $115 if they are between
60 to 69 years. FNPF will work together with Government to

41
 identify and put these pensioners on the social pension scheme,
on top of what they receive from their current reduced FNPF
pensions.

114. This will cost us around $2.2 million per year Mr Speaker Sir.

115. Mr. Speaker Sir, protecting our vulnerable children and their
childhood will be a key priority for us. In this Budget, a sum of
$100,000 is allocated to cater for the establishment of a new
Department of Children.

116. In addition, a sum of $19.9 million, an increase of $6.2 million

is allocated for Child Protection Allowance.

117. Mr. Speaker Sir, family assistance scheme, previously known

as poverty benefit scheme, is allocated a budget of $45.6 million.
This is an increase of $11.5 million from the current financial year
and will accommodate the 15 percent increase. A total of 26,000
households are expected to be assisted in this financial year.

118. Mr. Speaker Sir, a total sum of $43 million is allocated to cater
for disability allowance, bus fare subsidy for elderly and disabled,

42
 electricity subsidy to households below $30,000 income and
insurance for social welfare recipients. Over 100,000 people are
expected to benefit from this.

119. A funding of $500,000 is allocated for the Women’s Plan of

Action and a further allocation of $200,000 is provided to support
women organizations for their advocacy work.

120. Mr. Speaker Sir, apart from the funding for the Ministry of
Women, Children and Social Protection, to support our ex-
servicemen, a sum of $14.9 million is allocated for the Fiji
Serviceman’s Aftercare Fund to assist 10,226 ex-servicemen’s
and their families, including a 15 percent increase in their
allowances.

121. For over 2,000 Government pensioners, a total budget of $37

million is provided which will cater for the increase in monthly
allowances by 15 percent.

43
 iTaukei empowerment and development

122. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Coalition Government is determined to

empower the itaukei and help lift their living standards. For a long
time, under the previous Government, our itaukei have not
received the attention they should have received. We are going
to change that. The Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, Culture, Heritage
and Arts has been allocated a budget of $38.6 million, a major
increase of $23.2 million from this year's allocation.

123. To strengthen itaukei administration and our provincial

councils, a grant of $10.8 million is allocated to fund the 14
provincial councils, including $4.3 million to fund the salaries and
wages of 182 provincial council officers and other operational
expenses of around $6.1 million.

124. Mr. Speaker Sir, we have now reviewed the allowances for
the Turaga-ni-Koro’s, Mata-ni-Tikina’s and also allocated
allowance for Turaga-ni-Yavusa due to the important role they
play in the village administration and leadership.

44
125. The Turaga-ni-Koro monthly allowance will be increased from
$100 to $150 per month for all 1,181 Turaga-ni-Koro’s for which
a total sum of $2.1 million is allocated.

126. The Mata-ni-Tikina quarterly allowance will be increased by

$150 per quarter, which is equivalent to an increase of $50 per
month for the 262 Mata-ni-Tikina’s. This increase will be on top
of the current quarterly allowances for the Mata-ni-Tikina.
Currently, the Mata-ni-Tikina is eligible for either $100 dollars,
$175 dollars or $195 dollars depending on the geographical area
they serve and some are also eligible for certain travel and
incidental allowances. A sum of $585,800 is allocated.

127. Mr. Speaker Sir, to recognise and support the Turaga-ni-

Yavusa in decision-making and Vanua administration, a monthly
allowance of $100 has been allocated for 648 Turaga-ni-
Yavusa’s under the Vanua Leadership Allowance with a sum of
around $0.8 million dollars.

128. To support beautification and general improvement of iTaukei

villages and settlements, Mr. Speaker Sir, we are introducing a
village development programme with a funding allocation of $2.0

45
 million. Government will provide two thirds towards any eligible
projects while villages and settlements will contribute one third.
The maximum Government support will be $10,000 per village
per year and the programme will be administered by the Ministry
of iTaukei Affairs who will soon finalize the criteria and
guidelines.

129. $4.0 million is allocated for iTaukei Land Development to help

landowners with the development of their land for commercial
purposes. Previously, this allocation used to be funded under
Head 50 but now we moved this under the administration of the
Ministry of iTaukei Affairs.

130. The iTaukei Affairs Board is allocated a grant of $2.2 million

to fund the operations of the Board and salary and wage
payments of its 79 officers.

Improving Health Services and Infrastructure

131. Mr. Speaker Sir, the delivery of health services in Fiji has been
far from satisfactory and our public health facilities are in a state
of decay. Over the years there has been a complete lack of

46
 investment in improving the infrastructure of not only in the
country’s largest hospitals CWM and Lautoka, but all across our
health facilities in Fiji. Mr. Speaker Sir, I have said this publicly
and there is no denying that we have never had such bad health
services in the independent history of our nation.

132. We are going to give this the highest priority not only in this
budget but also in all our future budgets. It is going to be a
difficult task but Mr. Speaker Sir, we have clearly put our focus
on the maintenance of our existing infrastructure, and overall
improvements in service delivery.

133. In this Budget, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Health and
Medical Services is allocated a budget of $453.8 million, a
significant increase of $58.7 million from this year.

134. The salaries and wages budget for the Ministry have
increased to $126.4 million and will cater for:

47
 • 250 Intern Nurses to move up to become registered
Nurses;
• 237 new Intern Nurses;
• 46 Nursing Assistants;
• 50 Nursing Aides;
• 40 Midwives;
• 94 Medical Laboratory scientists; and
• additional support staff in various hospitals and non-
medical officers for the Fiji Pharmaceutical & Biomedical
Services to strengthen capacity and improve procurement
efficiency.

135. These additional positions, Mr. Speaker Sir will help improve
the service gaps and address the current capacity needs within
the Ministry. The nursing assistant and nurse aide positions have
been created to support our nurses focus on their core role,
where these aides and assistants will take over the non-clinical
responsibilities like making the bed, getting the consumables,
and other time consuming tasks that used to keep the nurses
occupied. We are also providing $11.6 million for the upgrade of
nurses salaries and overtime.

48
136. Mr. Speaker Sir, we are providing over $63 million for public
health programmes, Emergency Radiology and Laboratory
Services, procurement of drugs, consumables, medicines, and
purchase of bio-medical equipment and accessories and

137. Mr. Speaker Sir, we are working together Ministry of Health to

ensure the timely and efficient procurement of the drugs,
consumables and biomedical equipment accessories.

138. Mr. Speaker Sir, a sum of $2.5 million is allocated for the
Kidney Dialysis Treatment Subsidy. The allocation has been
increased by $1.0 million from this year’s level to cater for the
increase in the dialysis subsidy from the current $150 per
session to $180.

139. Mr. Speaker Sir, a sum of $16.4 million is allocated for the
upgrade and maintenance of urban hospitals and institutional
quarters, permanent walkway for the maternity hospital at CWM,
purchase, installation and replacement of ICT equipment, and a
major interior upgrade of Labasa hospital.

49
140. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Finance through the Strategic
Planning Office will work very closely with Ministry of Health and
Ministry of Public Works to ensure efficient and timely
maintenance of our hospitals and health centres as this has
been a major problem as well as assist in the strengthening of
the asset management unit of Ministry of Health.

141. We cannot build new hospitals or health centres if we are not

able to maintain what we have right now. Some of the hospitals
and health centres do not need large amounts of money to
upgrade. Some simply need a few window louvres, the
replacement of missing tiles, painting, roof repairs, fixing of
doors and mosquito netting on windows. We can easily do this.

142. Mr. Speaker Sir, the previous Government had tried to expand
the coverage of healthcare services through an outsourcing
model to engage the service of private general practitioner’s
dental operators and medical laboratories during the pandemic.
From 1 August 2023, only patients with a combined household
income of $30,000 or less per annum can qualify for the free
services at the private practitioners.

50
 Reshaping the Education Sector

143. Mr. Speaker Sir, the education sector is given the highest
allocation in this Budget to a tune of $845 million dollars.

144. Mr. Speaker Sir, a lot of haphazard changes and reforms

without consultation have caused major problems within the
education system.

145. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Coalition Government, will relook at the
overall education system in a consultative manner and we have
already announced our plans for the appointment of an
Education Commission and an Education Summit to take stock
of the issues and challenges in the education sector and with
proper dialogue and expert guidance chart a way forward for
future reforms to lift the standard of education of our children. .
The world is experiencing another technological revolution with
ChatGPT, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics – yet our
children and what they currently learn, are out of step.

51
146. For this Budget, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Education is
allocated a total budget of $505.4 million, an increase of $18.4
million.

147. The salaries and wages budget for the Ministry has been
increased from $318.1 million to $322.6 million to cater for the
funding for the more than 14,000 existing teachers and newly
established 179 new teaching and non-teaching positions at the
Ministry of Education.

148. For qualification upgrade and step movement, $8.9 million is

allocated for salary upgrade of teachers who have completed
relevant qualifications to move to a higher band in line with the
Teacher Remuneration Setting Policy.

149. For the rural and maritime location allowance, Mr. Speaker
Sir, a sum of $5.7 million is allocated which is an increase of $1.3
million from this year’s allocation. Funding provided will cater for
location allowances for 3,355 teachers in 921 remote schools.

52
150. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Coalition Government is committed to
providing free education and transport assistance for our ECE,
primary and secondary school students with a total funding
allocation of more than $100 million.

151. In addition to this, Mr. Speaker Sir, we have again allocated a

sum of $45 million to continue ‘Back to School Support’ of
$200 dollars per child for students from early childhood to Year
13 for the school year 2024. This will benefit over 230,000
students for families with less than $50,000 household income.

152. Mr. Speaker Sir, a total of $49 million is allocated for overall
maintenance and upgrade of schools including construction of
TC Yasa affected schools and staff quarters in Vanua Levu. We
thank the Australian Government for the $30 million contribution
towards this.

Technical Education and NTPC Levy

153. Mr. Speaker Sir, the biggest blunder by the previous

Government was in the areas of technical education. Failed
policies which led to the establishment of technical colleges cost

53
 the taxpayers over $20 million. All the technical colleges were
left in ruin

154. We now have a huge responsibility to rebuild our technical

education system as well as address the skills gap issue in the
country. We are now going to invest in this and work together
with existing service providers, including the newly established
Pacific Polytech.

155. We are going to revamp the apprenticeship scheme in the

next few months and also review the NTPC levy and how best
to support and fund skill upgrades in the workforce. The
employers have been suffering from this and the previous
Government’s hasty decision to remove the NTPC levy.

Funding of Higher Education Institutions

156. Mr. Speaker Sir, for higher education, Government will

continue providing financial support to our tertiary institutions
with a total funding allocation of $103.3 million.

54
157. We have restored the grant for USP and are committed to
clear the outstanding dues, with the first $10 million paid as soon
as we came into Government. A further $20 million is allocated
towards the clearing of USPs outstanding grants, on top of the
annual grant of $33.5 million. In this Budget, USP will receive a
total funding of $53.5 million.

158. The Fiji National University will be provided a funding grant of

$43.4 million, University of Fiji is provided an increased grant of
$2.8 million while the newly established Pacific Polytechnic will
receive a funding grant of $1.0 million and Sangam Institute of
Technology has its grant increased from $114,000 to $614,000,
an increase of half a million dollars to accommodate additional
nursing students in light of the current shortages.

159. Funding is also provided to Corpus Christi, Fulton College,

Montfort Technical Institute, Monfort Boys Town, and
Vivekananda Technical Centre.

55
 TELS write off and scholarships

160. Mr. Speaker Sir, now let me move on to TELS debt write off
and tertiary scholarship funding.

161. Mr Speaker Sir, our critics including the opposition sitting right
here had said that we cannot do this. Mr. Speaker Sir, as we had
promised, I would like to confirm that all outstanding TELS debt
is being forgiven by the Coalition Government.

162. Let me repeat Mr. Speaker Sir, all TELS debt (excluding in
service training) to a tune of $650 million, owed by 53,725
students who had studied under the TELS scheme is now written
off and none of these 53,725 TELS recipients and their parents
and guardians will have to pay a single cent back to the
Government.

163. However, to ensure that these students serve their nation and
do justice to the taxpayers as used to be the practice in the past,
they will have to serve a bond. The bond service will be years of
study multiplied by one point five (1.5) for these graduates.

56
 Those who choose not to serve the bond will have to pay the
equivalent cost amount.

164. Now moving forward, Mr. Speaker Sir, we will provide all
eligible students with scholarships under the rebranded Fijian
Scholarship Scheme with a total budget of $148.2 million in this
Budget. This will cater for the scholarships of 8,720 new students
and funding needed for the 9,148 existing students. Eligibility
marks will be based on labour market needs and enrollment
capacity of the universities.

165. The bonding for new students under this scheme will be years
of study multiplied by one and a half (1.5) times if tuition only and
years of study multiplied by two (2) times if tuition and allowance
is paid.

166. In terms of allowances, Mr. Speaker Sir, students under merit-

based scholarship will be eligible for $3,400 per semester.
Effective from 1st January 2024, all students under scholarships
other than merit based will receive $2,500 per semester if they
study at campus away from home, $1,500 for home-based
campuses.

57
167. The full details and eligibility and the selection criteria
handbook will be published by TSLS soon.

168. In the next academic year, a new initiative by the Coalition

Government will set aside three (3) PhDs, and five (5) Masters
by Research awards for study at New Zealand Universities. The
total PhDs and Masters allocation remains ten (10) and twenty
(20) respectively.

Fiji Roads Authority

169. Mr. Speaker Sir, in the last eight years, a total of around $3.1
billion was spent by Fiji Roads Authority without any strategic
plan, without much priority and without proper costing. This Mr.
Speaker Sir compromised the standard of infrastructure
including roads and led to significant wastage of public funds.

170. Mr. Speaker Sir, we are going to change the approach

towards the planning, construction and maintenance of our
roads. We need to do more with less money. We need to
improve the value for money as there has been a lot of wastage

58
 and funding of “novelty type” over designed expensive roads in
Fiji. The new FRA Board is fully in sync with this and they have
been working closely with the Government to rethink some of the
scoping and design works, rethink about the modalities of
awarding road contracts, including closer monitoring and
supervision of contractors. There is also a need to open up and
encourage the participation of local contractors through direct
contracting for smaller contracts.

171. Mr. Speaker Sir, for the next fiscal year, the Fiji Roads
Authority is allocated a budget of $387.6 million which comprises
$14.7 million for operations and $372.9 for capital expenditures.

172. Mr. Speaker Sir, major emphasis is being placed on the need
to ensure adequate maintenance of Fiji’s road network and as
such an increased allocation of $100.6 million is allocated for
road maintenance, $42.0 million for completed maintenance and
emergency works, $60 million is provided for the renewal and
resurfacing of roads, $35.4 million is allocated for completion of
the ongoing bridge projects, $18.3 million for the rural roads
programme, $13.2 million for the upgrade of Queen Elizabeth
Drive, and $82.2 million for the Transport Infrastructure

59
 Investment Sector Project financed through Asian Development
Bank and World Bank loans of US$100 million and US$50
million, respectively.

Ministry of Public Works, Meteorological Service and

Transport

173. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Public Works, Meteorological

Service and Transport is allocated a sum of $98.3 million.

174. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Coalition Government has also re-
established the Public Works Department (PWD) to improve the
state of rural roads around the country with an initial setup cost
of $5.0 million.

175. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Government maintains the commitment

towards achieving 100% access to affordable and reliable
sources of energy. A sum of $4.1 million is allocated for the
completion of 111 grid extension schemes by Energy Fiji
Limited. Additionally, the Department of Energy will continue to
facilitate house wiring connections for completed grid extension
projects with a budget provision of $3.0 million.

60
 Agriculture

176. Mr. Speaker Sir, the agricultural sector plays an important role
towards food security, income generation, employment, rural
development, and economic diversification.

177. In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways is

allocated a budget of $95.2 million in this Budget which is a
major increase of $37.3 million.

178. Mr. Speaker Sir, a total sum is allocated of $13.9 million to

fund the agricultural marketing authority, Committee on Better
Utilisation of Land, and commercial agriculture development.

179. A total of more than $47.5 million is provided for the crops and
livestock research and extension services to strengthen
agricultural productivity.

61
180. Mr. Speaker Sir, for the first time, we are now providing
weedicide and fertilizer subsidy for non-sugar crops which
includes rice, ginger, dalo, and cassava with a funding of $1.0
million to boost production of these crops.

181. Mr. Speaker Sir, we will review the entire dairy industry. This
is another disaster left by the previous government as the dairy
industry is on the verge of collapse. $5.0 million is allocated to
Fiji Cooperative Dairy Company Limited and for dairy extension
programme.

182. $5.3 million is allocated for farm access roads, provision of

tractors, and existing agricultural offices and quarters.

183. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Department of Waterways is allocated a

budget of $22.1 million to improve the drainage system around
the country which is also in a very bad condition.

184. Mr. Speaker Sir, to improve the drainage schemes which has
been neglected over so many years, a total sum of $16.2 million
is allocated. This will cater for major river dredging, coastal

62
 erosion protection, watershed management and maintenance of
rice irrigation drainage.

185. Mr. Speaker Sir, Government has allocated a sum $3.0 million
to assist those Fijians whose properties has been
damaged/affected by Termites in the western and northern
division. The Ministry of Finance will release more details on the
roll out of this initiative soon.

186. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji supports Fiji’s
agricultural produce exporters by providing information,
inspection and certification to meet the import requirements of
overseas countries. Moving forward, BAF and Ministry of
Agriculture need to work together to create farmer awareness
(such as farmer outreach activities) of the list of agricultural
produce under current pathways and market access, support
market access negotiations and retention of such markets and
new export pathways are developed and adopted. The Strategic
Planning Office will coordinate this.

63
 Ministry of Multi-Ethnic Affairs and Sugar Industry

187. Mr Speaker Sir, the sugar industry is near collapse and not
much attention was paid by the previous Government to revive
the industry. While millions of dollars have been wasted by
paying salary to CEOs and other executive management by the
previous government, we have not been able to revamp the
industry. A thorough review and assessment of the industry is
required and will be undertaken. Also, the Ministry of Finance
through the Planning Office will be working with the Ministry of
Sugar, to begin work on a Sugar Industry Strategic Plan soon.

188. The Ministry of Multi-Ethnic Affairs and Sugar Industry is

allocated a sum of $51.7 million in the new financial year of
which $49.7 is for the sugar unit.

189. With the aim to increase cane production from current

production of 1.6 million tonnes to 1.9 million tonnes by 2024
season, a sum of $11 million dollars is allocated for Sugar
Development and Farmers Assistance Program, New Farmers
and Lease Premium Assistance, Weedicide Subsidy, Farm
Incentive Program and Cage Bins.

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190. Mr. Speaker Sir, we will continue with the guaranteed price of
$85 per tonne with an allocation of $4.0 million.

191. Mr. Speaker Sir, frequent rain and flooding has been one of
the major problems faced by the sugar industry and drainage
systems in the sugarcane areas have been neglected or had
very minimum maintenance in the last several years. A sum of
$5.5 million is allocated for the Drainage for Sugarcane Farms
in the next financial year.

192. Mr Speaker Sir, the Ministry is undertaking a thorough review

of the responsibilities for multi-ethnic affairs in the area of
culture, language, history and arts and will also be responsible
for the Girmit commemorations from next year. A sum of
$500,000 is allocated for the preparatory works for gas
crematorium for Navua, 2 sites in western division and 1 in the
northern division.

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 Fisheries and Forestry

193. Mr Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Fisheries and Forestry is

allocated a budget of $41.6 million. This will support the
expansion of aquaculture, shrimp farming, seaweed
Development Programme, Multi-Species Hatchery, construction
of ice plants and the supply of tilapia fingerlings and prawn frys
to farmers in the Western Division.

194. For the Reforestation of Degraded Forests with Indigenous

and Other Species, a sum of $2.5 million is allocated. The
funding allocated will be used to address challenges and to
ensure the survival of trees planted by extensive monitoring,
undertaking beat up, enhancing quality seed collection,
propagation and planting protocols.

195. A sum of $2.0 million dollars is also allocated for the Redd+
and Forest Emissions Reduction Programme.

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 Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources

196. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources
is allocated a budget of $30.1 million to enable the Ministry to
continue effectively and efficiently administer and regulate the
land and mineral resource sector.

Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation

197. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation is
allocated a sum of $52.3 million in this Budget.

198. Tourism Fiji is allocated an operating grant of $7.0 million and

to support new marketing strategies an increased Marketing
Grant of $30.0 million is provided in the new financial year.

199. Mr. Speaker Sir, a new $US200 million World Bank-funded

Fiji Tourism Development Program in Vanua Levu has been
approved this week by the World Bank Board. This new project’s
financing of US$61.5 million for the first phase is part of a larger
US$200 million package approved for the ten-year multi-stage
tourism program for Vanua Levu. A sum of $5.0 million is

67
 allocated in the next financial year to start the project. The first
phase of the program focuses on bolstering tourism in Vanua
Levu, including Taveuni, by improving drainage, sewage, and
transport infrastructure, including upgrade of Labasa and
Savusavu domestic airports, as well as an upgrade of the 95
kilometre road connecting the two towns.

Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives & Small Medium

Enterprises and Communications

200. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives & Small
Medium Enterprises and Communications is working towards
strengthening Fiji’s position as the economic and international
trade hub of the Pacific and will focus on strengthening and
supporting the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSME) and co-operatives. As such, the Ministry is allocated a
budget of $116.5 million in the next financial year, an increase of
$25.3 million from this year’s allocation.

201. A sum of $9.0 million is allocated to continue with the

development and implementation of an online business and
construction business licensing system for the Ease of Doing

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 Business, and the rollout of the 16 agency Ease of Doing
business process which will fully digitise the Starting a Business
and Obtaining Construction Permits processes.

202. Mr. Speaker Sir, a sum of $2.5 million is allocated for the
Northern Development Programme, National Export Strategy,
Integrated Human Resource Development Programme, Trade
Enhancement Programme, and to assist those with trade skills
to enhance their business potential.

Ministry of Youth and Sports

203. Mr. Speaker Sir, Sports plays a key role in building social
cohesion and improving Fiji’s image globally. The Ministry of
Youth and Sports is allocated a sum of $19.5 million in the 2023-
2024 Budget.

204. A sum of $9.7 million is allocated, Mr. Speaker Sir, for

overseas sporting tours including the 2024 Island Pacific
Games, Commonwealth Games, the Rugby World Cup,
operations of the Fiji National Sports Commission, engagement
of sports coaches, hosting international tournaments in Fiji,

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 Sports Outreach Programmes, Sports Scholarships and sports
grant for persons with disability.

Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster

Management

205. Mr. Speaker Sir, rural and outer island development is one of
the priorities for the Coalition Government, and we are
committed to bridging the development gap between the rural
and urban areas.

206. The Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster

Management is allocated a sum of $29.1 million to support Grant
to Self Help projects, Community Access Roads, Footpaths and
Footbridges projects, rural housing and urgent upgrade and
renovation of existing divisional quarters.

207. Mr. Speaker Sir, the district advisory councilors and the
District Chairperson’s play an important role, serving as a link
between the government and the people at the grassroots and
provide development management link between the
communities and the Government. The advisory councilors

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 allowance has been reviewed and will be increased from
$172.50 to $200 per month for the 302 advisory councilors;
whereas monthly allowance for the 16 District Chairperson’s will
be increased from $207 to $220 for which a sum of around
$770,000 is allocated in this Budget.

Affordable and Decent Housing for All

208. The Coalition Government’s vision is to provide affordable

and decent housing for all communities by 2032, and is aimed at
supporting families that struggle to find housing due to rising land
and house prices.

209. The Ministry of Housing is allocated a sum of $25.7 million in

the Budget to support the housing sector.

210. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry will continue with the
regularization of informal settlements that will provide long term
housing lease to households residing in informal settlements. A
budget of $10.0 million is allocated that will facilitate the
commencement of capital works at Sakoca in Nasinu, Tavela in
Nadi, Field 4 and Tore in Lautoka; and preparatory works for

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 nine (9) settlements in Lovu Sea-side, Nabare, and Delaisaweni
in Lautoka, Valewaquyaya in Ba, Vunika in Labasa, Caubati in
Nasinu, Wakanisila in Nasinu, Sasawira in Nausori and
Nadonumai in Lami.

211. To encourage home ownership by assisting eligible recipients

to purchase or construct their homes, Government will continue
to support the First Home Purchase programme with a budget of
$5.0 million to target beneficiaries with a combined household
income below $50,000 per annum. A grant of $15,000 is
available for the purchase of an existing house or unit and
$30,000 is provided to build a new house or unit. For
beneficiaries with a combined income between $50,000 to
$100,000, the Government has allocated a budget of $1.5 million
to support first time home ownership with a grant of $5,000 if
they buy an existing house or unit and $20,000 to build a new
house or unit.

212. For the public private partnership affordable housing project,

a sum of $2.0 million is allocated. The PPP project will steadily
realise the Government’s vision to provide over 3,200 affordable
and high-quality housing units for Fijian families. The Project is

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 re-shaping the housing sector, and will build a new housing
market where more ordinary families can afford to own a home,
own a strata title and/or rent properties at affordable rates. We
are currently working with IFC to finalise the bidding documents
for the tender which is expected to be advertised by August
2023.

213. We have also discussed this with all the banks and they are
eager to participate in supporting the Government with this
project by financing to eligible strata title owners. Mr. Speaker
Sir, we are also being informed that a few of the Banks have now
launched a new product that provide credit for agreement-to-
lease properties and associated costs of surveying, registration
and conveyancing fees. This will be an added boost to the
formalization of housing in informal settlements.

Ministry of Local Government

214. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Local Government is allocated

a sum of $29.3 million in this Budget. The Coalition Government
has already announced that all towns and city councils will now
have elected councilors. And I am pleased to announce that

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 ministry is firmly focused on facilitating council elections next
year.

215. A sum of $3.9 million is allocated for the new Savusavu

market, around $1.0 million for the new Nakasi market, $100,000
for the preparatory works for the Dreketi mini-market, $1.3
million for the completion of Levuka market, $3.5 million for the
completion of Govind Park and $4.6 million for the completion of
Lautoka Swimming Pool.

216. Mr. Speaker Sir, both Govind Park and Lautoka Swimming
Pool projects were very badly planned, managed and executed.
Government is now left with no option but to provide additional
funding to complete these projects with increased cost. We will
ensure that the project gets completed in the new financial year
and a review will be undertaken by the Ministry of Finance to
look at how the projects were implemented, value for money
assessment and reasons for the failure of the projects.

217. Mr. Speaker Sir, to support our Drua team we are allocating
$1.0 million dollars for procurement of enhanced equipment and
services required to deliver international quality broadcast

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 required for Drua’s participation in Super rugby and other
international matches.

Ministry of Finance, FRCS and FBOS

218. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Finance is provided a total

budget of $89.5 million, including an increased grant of $45.5
million to the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service.

219. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Finance is modernizing its

systems and processes and has embarked on a significant IT
project to replace the current Financial Management Information
System (FMIS) which is almost 20 years old. Under this project
the payroll system will also be replaced and integrated with the
FMIS. We thank the Asian Development Bank for their
invaluable technical support in this transition. A sum of $14.0
million is allocated for the new system. Apart from this, $2.0
million is allocated to complete the implementation of the new
Budget software system.

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220. Mr Speaker Sir, the re-establishment of the Strategic Planning
Office will ensure better coordination and formulation of a
strategic and our robust development agenda. The Strategic
Planning Office will help formulate a new national development
plan, strengthen the policy and planning within government,
improve coordination among ministries and departments,
appraisal and selection of public investment projects, monitoring
and evaluation of projects, improve coordination of development
projects across Government and strengthen national workforce
planning and economic intelligence analysis. A sum of $3.4
million is allocated for the operations of the Office.

221. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Coalition Government is working towards

strengthening the Fiji Bureau of Statistics with the review of the
Statistics Act to give them more autonomy and to ensure that the
Statistics Office is well equipped to provide timely and reliable
statistics. A budget of $7.6 million is provided to FBOS, which
includes $2.4 million to undertake the 2023-2024 Employment
and Unemployment Survey.

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222. Mr. Speaker Sir, $36 million dollars is provided for vehicle
leasing which is under a comprehensive review to determine the
cost-effective way forward for government fleet acquisition and
management.

Civil Service

223. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Civil Service is allocated a

sum of $50.6 million in the next financial year. An Establishment
Support Unit will be established in the Ministry of Civil Service to
ensure decisions on the management of the Ministry’s
establishment are transparent, accountable, and consistent with
good principles.

224. In addition to this, a Shared Services Agreement Policy will be

developed in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and
implemented to ensure that where possible, Ministries and
Departments are efficiently utilizing existing human resources
across the common cadres. This will contribute to easier
transfers of the staff between Ministries, allowing for the sharing
of knowledge and information in the civil service.

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225. For Office Space Rental, a sum of $34.5 million is allocated to
facilitate the monthly rentals to landlords for the properties
leased by various ministries/departments. $3.0 million is
allocated for the renovation and maintenance of Government
quarters and public buildings in this Budget.

Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration

226. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration
is allocated a budget of $12.4 million. The Ministry will undertake
a holistic national security defense review, including
development of a security strategy and associated legislative
reforms to strengthen national security.

227. Mr. Speaker Sir, the immigration department services have to

be improved to build capabilities in addressing immigration-
related crimes, including human trafficking, and streamlining
processes to support the private sector and improve the daily
experiences of our citizens.

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228. The Immigration Office is provided additional 23 new positions
to significantly improve service delivery. For the digitisation and
modernisation of immigration systems and processes, a funding
support of $1.1 million is provided through the Australian
Government.

229. A sum of $1.5 million is allocated for procurement of passports

while $300,000 is allocated for the installation of ePassport kits
in Immigration Offices and Overseas Missions.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

230. Mr. Speaker Sir, Fiji continues to maintain its foreign relations
with more than 182 countries. Under the leadership of the Hon
Prime Minister, there has been renewed interest, and
engagement from our regional and international partners. We
need to continue enhancing foreign relations, promoting Fiji’s
foreign policy initiatives, advancing Fiji’s leadership in the global
arena, improving trade performance and maintaining Fiji as a
modern hub of the Pacific.

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231. To further enhance our diplomatic and international relations,
Mr. Speaker Sir, a sum of $4.0 million is allocated for the startup
costs associated with the re-opening of Fiji Overseas Missions
in Washington, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea and setup of a
new Embassy in Israel. $2.2 million is allocated for the
refurbishment of overseas missions.

Office of the Prime Minister

232. The Office of the Prime Minister is provided with a budget of

$50.8 million. This funding will also cater for the Climate Change
Division, Department of Environment, Department of
Information, National Archives of Fiji and Public Enterprises.

Office of the Attorney – General

233. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Coalition Government has re-established

the Fiji Law Reform Commission which has not been fully
functional since 2006 and currently operates as part of the Legal
Drafting Department in the Solicitor-General’s Office. The
Commission was initially established by legislation in 1979 under
the Fiji Law Reform Commission Act. The Commission will

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 undertake systematic review, reforms and development of laws
to make them simple, modern and relevant. A sum of $400,000
is allocated in this Budget.

Independent Bodies

234. Mr. Speaker Sir, Government is assisting with the review of

the Audit Act 1969 to strengthen the Office of the Auditor-
General. A sum of $7 million is provided to the Office of the
Auditor-General in this budget. To fast track the audit backlog
which has been an issue over the years, the Auditor-General is
provided a new allocation of $722,000 for outsourcing its audits.

235. Mr. Speaker Sir, an independent and well-resourced judiciary

is critical for a well functioning democracy. As such, a sum of
$50.0 million is provided towards the funding of our judiciary in
the 2023-2024 Budget.

236. The Fijian Parliament is allocated a sum of $16.3 million, an

increase of $7.7 million. This includes $4.4 million for the
purchase of equipment and upgrade of the broadcast system
which will include a multi-language captioning to enable our

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 Parliament to be more inclusive and increase citizen
engagement in our 3 key languages.

237. Mr. Speaker Sir, a total sum of $35.5 million is allocated to the
Independent Commissions. We are now strengthening and
tightening the processes and reporting mechanisms for the
independent bodies, commissions and statutory authorities.
Over the years, there has been serious lack of timely submission
of annual reports, detailed expenditure breakdowns and
utilization reports by many of these institutions. This is not the
standard of proper accountability that we expect of independent
bodies and we hope that with appropriate allocation of budget,
this will improve.

Ministry of Justice

238. Mr. Speaker Sir, a sum of $5.4 million is provided to Ministry

of Justice. The availability of timely and efficient access to justice
is critical to social and economic development.

239. To support access to justice , the Ministry will be undertaking

digitization works in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and

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 Ministry of Communications and other relevant key stakeholders
on its legal registries and upon the completion of the digitization
most of the services will be provided online. This will improve
efficiency and administration of justice.

240. The Office of the Registrar of Titles is allocated 13 additional

Clerical Officer positions to improve service delivery and meet
the increased customer demand for the services. To improve
BDM services, $100,000 is allocated to fund the renovation
works at the Taveuni, Levuka and Nausori BDM Offices.

The Fiji Corrections Service (FCS)

241. Mr Speaker Sir, the Fiji Corrections Service is allocated a sum

of $47.0 million. Thirty (30) new positions with an allocation of
around $550,000 is funded in the new financial year.

242. A sum of $4.2 million is allocated to cater for food rations for
in-mates occupied in the penal institutions and for the
Rehabilitation and Yellow Ribbon program to support the
rehabilitation programmes for the inmates.

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243. Mr. Speaker Sir, a total sum of $4.7 million is allocated for the
commencement of the Construction of new Supervisor’s Office
at Labasa Correction Centre, Phase 2 upgrade works for Nasinu
Cemetery and Phase 4 works for Suva Cemetery, Construction
of Retaining Wall (Gabion) at Levuka Corrections Centre,
construction of boundary fence for Nasinu Corrections Centre
(Phase 2) and boundary fence for Suva Women's Corrections
Centre, and upgrade and maintenance of institutional buildings
and repair and maintenance of institutional quarters.

Law and Order

244. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Fiji Police Force has been allocated a
sum of $183.7 million. The Force is increasingly focused on
preventing cybercrimes and combating the distribution and use
of illegal drugs. The Force will receive an additional 100 Police
Constables to boost its operations, for which a sum of $2.3
million is allocated in the Budget.

245. To improve police visibility, $700,000 is allocated to

strengthen the Police Beat Patrol in both urban and rural areas.
Mr. Speaker Sir, this is a new initiative for crime prevention.

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246. Mr. Speaker Sir, over the years, the previous Government has
constructed new police stations which has cost close to $100
million while many existing police stations, quarters and posts
were neglected. With the focus on maintenance and bringing our
infrastructure to a better standard, $3.0 million is allocated for
the renovation and upgrade of Police quarters and posts.

247. Mr. Speaker Sir, we also acknowledge the important role that
the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) plays in maintaining
the security, defense and supporting peace efforts around the
world. In this Budget, the RFMF is allocated a sum of $103.1
million.

Future economic policy measures

248. Mr Speaker Sir, finally I would like to cover some ground on

future economic policy measures, particularly in the area of
economic growth.

249. We came into office six months ago, into an economic

environment which might best be called a policy-free zone. The

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 budgeting and economic policy sphere was secret. Nobody
except the Economy Minister knew what was happening or what
was planned. Criticism of government policy was silenced. Many
people with an interest in contributing to economic policy had
simply given up. Every National Budget was anxiously awaited,
with no one knowing what surprises would come.

250. Mr Speaker, in the Coalition Government we have tried to be

different. We and our advisers have been open about our
thinking. We have put our thoughts into the public space. We
have learned from the criticism and feedback we have received.
We have shared our economic decision-making with the public.

251. Mr. Speaker Sir, I have talked about this many times in
opposition. Over the last 10 years, Fiji has slumped badly on all
the ease of doing business indicators. But instead of listening to
the concerns of investors the previous Government just blamed
everybody else for the bad numbers. So what will we do
differently?

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252. Everybody talks about improving the business environment,
but sooner or later we have to get down to some key issues and
processes. What are these?

253. Let us look first at the issues for those who want to build and
to invest in physical capital. Foreign investors wanting to acquire
or even lease relatively small areas of land are already frustrated
by the slow processing of applications under the Land Sales
Act. We need to look at the processes under the State Lands
Act which prevent us from leasing Government land effectively
for economic purposes. This includes foreshore leases which
are often critical for tourism and similar activities.

254. We will also be carefully reviewing processes in both the

Department of Environment and in the Department of Town
and Country Planning, which interacts with local governments
on town planning issues. These are the critical agencies to
ensure that we process building and development applications
in an orderly and planned way. The processes are bureaucratic
and need simplification. We will soon be setting up a working
group to advance this process.

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255. We have a lot of complaints from developers about access to
electricity. So we will be zeroing in on this, to identify where the
problems are and develop solutions. On the supply side of
energy, Fiji is well off its targets for renewable energy
development. We need to urgently ramp up our renewable
generating capacity. We need to get the right stakeholders
together – the renewables suppliers, EFL, the FCCC and others
– to act urgently on this.

256. We also need to address the needs of businesses in their daily

operations. At this point we are focused on three issues.

i. As we battle the loss of our skills to overseas countries, we

have continued to complicate life for local businesses
needing to import skills, both short and long-term. This
includes at the Immigration Department, where we believe
that we can spend a little bit of money on more personnel
and systems to make the work permit process more
efficient. We believe there is scope to increase fees
charged by the Department and the economic payback for
Government is very quick. We have already taken some
steps to ease the pressure on the grant of short-term work

88
 permits. We will also look at wider immigration law reforms
which will align Fiji better in the global economy and which
will take advantage of the increasing mobility of people and
economic capital. We will be setting up another working
group on this.

ii. We know that many businesses, large and small, are

frustrated by the time it takes them to get routine offshore
payments through the exchange control and tax
clearance process between the Reserve Bank of Fiji and
FRCS. RBF and FRCS worked together earlier this year to
make these processes more flexible and less bureaucratic.
FRCS will continue to ensure that all taxpayers meet their
obligations. On the tax clearance process there is still room
for improvement, and we have challenged FRCS to keep
listening to the feedback and continue the improvement.

iii. Businesses of all sizes complain repeatedly about the time

and bureaucracy involved in relatively simple periodic
regulatory processes such as the National Fire
Authority, Occupational Health and Safety checks,
liquor licensing and health inspections. I am pleased to

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 say that the Ministry of Trade is already working on this with
an IFC-supported project now in progress to reform these
processes.

257. Mr Speaker Sir, these are a few of the initiatives on which we

are working but this are the ones to which Ministry of Finance
will be giving priority in the next six months, in partnership with
relevant line Ministries.

Concluding Remarks

258. Mr Speaker Sir, I realize I have been almost 2 hours on my

feet monopolizing your attention. I can only thank you all for your
patience.

259. In closing, I think we can all agree that it is a tough but a fair
budget. We have tried to look after everybody within the tight
financial resources and fiscal constraints.

260. The road ahead will not be easy, but we are hopeful that what
we have laid down in this budget today will be a strong
foundation for future recovery, growth and prosperity.

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261. Mr Speaker Sir, I have laid out how we intend to raise revenue
despite our grave economic woes by instituting fiscal restraint
and discipline. I have also laid down measures that will address
the challenges of rising cost of living and social protection
provisions for our most vulnerable.

262. In addition, with this Budget, we can start climbing out of our
cycle of debt if we stay on course with this pathway, and stay
disciplined.

263. From a debt to GDP ratio of almost 90% in the July 2022 fiscal
year, we want to drop that to 79% debt to GDP ratio by July 2024,
and sink that further down to under 60% by 2030.

264. Once we get to under 60% debt to GDP ratio, only then can
we have more space for actual progressive spending. Hon
Speaker, with the concurrence of the cabinet I commend this
budget to this august House.

265. Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir.

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