Rabuka claims Budget is irresponsible
Leader of Opposition and Shadow Minister for Economy Sitiveni Rabuka says the 2020-2021 National Budget was irresponsible, rudderless and deceiving.
While delivering his response to the 2020-2021 National Budget address, he said the budget was leading Fiji towards a debt ridden economy.
“The expenditure in the Budget is 220 per cent the size of the projected revenues. The deficit of the Budget is 120 per cent of the revenue and the deficit as a percent of GDP is 20.2 per cent,” Mr Rabuka said.
“There is no such example of a Budget like this in the history of humanity,” he said.
“Our future generations will remain heavily indebted for a long, long time and judge this Government in bad taste.”
He recommended the need for the Government to remove unnecessary spending which included the construction of the new Prime Minister’s office, leasing of government vehicles, increase in government rent, construction of a new police station and charges on public debt.
These allocations he said were unnecessary, and needed to be removed to reduce Gross Deficit.
Meanwhile, Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts Rosy Akbar said no child will be required to pay for his or her education despite the reduction in budget allocation for the ministry.
The ministry was allocated $450.6m in the Budget.
“The decrease in budget for the Ministry of Education does not change a thing from the promise we have promised since 2014,” she said.
“Free textbooks, free tuition, and bus fare subsidy and there has been no reduction in teachers’ salaries like what the opposition had asked for.