Prominent Suva Lawyer Richard Naidu will chair a 14-member Fiscal Review Committee which was announced today by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad.
The other members are Lisa Apted (Co-Chair), Reaaz Ali, Vani Cakanasiga, Edwin Chand, Neelesh Gounder, Matelita Katamoto, Fantasha Lockington, Kirti Patel, Pradeep Patel, Naibuka Saune, Viliame Takayawa, Barry Whiteside and Mereia Volavola.
Naidu said there is no question that they have been handed a pretty challenging assignment and the members of the team come with extensive background from the different sectors and together they can achieve their mandate.
Naidu said they have 10 weeks to report back to the Government a detailed report that is full, frank and independent.
“We are here to listen, to consult widely with people from different sectors as possible. In the short 10 weeks that we have been given, I think we are all clear with the report… We do not intend to focus on the bad news, we think there is probably some that will emerge as a result of this report,” Naidu said.
He added that the Committee is committed to look for a way forward from here.
Prof Prasad indicated that in the last decade, the Government spent more than it earned on its daily operations, this is before it began to borrow for capital investment.
He said the Committee’s task is to examine the overall setting of government’s fiscal policy and make recommendations on how to re-balance Government revenue and spending to grow the economy and ensure the Government is fiscally sustainable over the next decade.
“Public debt in 2015 stood at 46 percent of the GDP, and it is now about 85 percent and still not under control.
He highlighted that coming into office, the World Bank shared its public expenditure review which is nearly finalized, and the advice is alarming.
Prof Prasad added without significant changes to Government finances, Fiji’s debt to GDP ratio will approach nearly 100 percent in 10 years’ time.
