I Do Not Lie, says Narube
“He stood for election in 2018, how come he didn’t say it then? Absolutely no proof provided,” says A-G
Ido not lie, says Unity Fiji Leader Savenaca Narube. Mr Narube made this statement in response to comments made by Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum earlier this week.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum questioned Mr Narube if he had any proof to the claims he made saying that he was forced to lie and paint a rosy picture of the Fijian economy to the world when he was the governor of the Reserve Bank of.
“If he was so aggrieved by it and if it had happened, why didn’t he raise it earlier on?” Mr SayedKhaiyum asked.
“He stood for election in 2018, how come he didn’t say it then? Absolutely no proof provided. Who asked him to do that and which figures did he cook up?
“Can you believe Mr Narube who was the permanent secretary for finance whilst being the governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji? Fiscal policy and monetary policy, we know people doing the monitoring of that need to be completely independent of each other.”
Mr Narube Responds
Mr Narube maintained his claims saying he was told to lie, but he did not lie.
He added that he did not carry microphones with him to record conversations for proof.
“The only proof I have is that I was sacked the same day they abrogated the 1997 constitution. If I had lied I wouldn’t have been sacked,” he claimed
“Second, they wanted me to devalue the currency, I thought that it was not a good time. I do not lie, I am a person who stands by what I have said.”
He claimed that since no one had replaced him as Permanent Secretary for Finance, the Public Service Commission (PSC) had asked him to also take care of the Ministry for Finance.
“So, I was the Governor and the Acting PS at the same time. This was not against any law. This had nothing to do with bad governance. It was in the national interest.”
He said it was a crisis and an immediate need to safeguard government finances.
“I believe this reflected the PSC’s confidence in my ability to safeguard the country’s economy and finance. I was successful in protecting government finance and the soundness of the financial system. I was only paid the Governor’s salary. Monetary and fiscal policy are not independent. They are complimentary. So, the Minister for the Economy obviously does not know what he is talking about.”
Mr Narube claimed that he had always talked about this since 2017 and the media was only picking it up now.