Budget Brief - A General Overview

The Minister for Finance presented the 20162017 National Budget, for the Government’s new financial year August 2016 – July 2017, on Wednesday at 7.30pm.

For 2016-2017, the revenue forecast is $3,175 million and the budgeted expenditure is $3,643 million resulting in an estimated net deficit of $468 million – or 4.7 percent of GDP. The Minister commented that the Budget is for broadening the economic base, and the increased deficit is for investments to rebuild Fiji, for reconstruction and rehabilitation, post Tropical Cyclone Winston. For 2016-2017, the operating expenditure is 60% and capital expenditure is 40%. Government’s debt level for July 2017 is projected to be $4,969 million (being 50.4 percent of GDP), compared to 47.9 percent ($4,501 million) projected for July 2016.

For the financial year August 2016 to July 2017, the economy is projected to grow by 2.8 percent, and 3.6 percent in calendar year 2017 with forecast growth