2018/2019 NATIONAL BUDGET breakdown

Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has announced some major programs in the 2018/2019 National Budget including extended maternity leave, new paternity leave, Family Care leave and insurance for civil servants and social welfare recipients.

Maternity leave, Paternity Leave and Family Care Leave

Sayed-Khaiyum says $5M has been allocated towards Parenthood Assistance Payment Program.

$1,000 will be given to those mothers whose household income is $30,000 and below.

This is for the first, second or third child.

Sayed-Khaiyum says the moment the new born is registered in the Births Deaths and Marriages Office and issued a birth certificate, a new bank account will open in any participating bank in the mother’s name to receive the assistance.

The first $500 will be given immediately to the mother and the second $500 will be in the bank earning interest and can be accessed when the child enters year 1.

5 days paid paternity leave has also been introduced for Fiji.

Sayed-Khaiyum says fathers in the country need to change diapers more to assist the mothers.

There is also good news for mothers as paid maternity leave has been increased from 84 days to 98 days.

Sayed-Khaiyum has also announced fully paid 5 days leave for Family Care.

There will also be 150% tax deduction for businesses paying salaries to those employees during the time they take paternity and family care leave.

This starts on January 1st, 2019.

The Minister for Economy also confirms that today will be the final National Sports Day holiday because the other new leave will be introduced like Family Care Leave and Paternity Leave.

Duties and Taxes

Duty has been reduced from 5%t to 0% for imported fruit and vegetables.

There is also a 32% increase in tax for carbonated drinks.

Fiscal duty has also been reduced from 32% to 15% for motor vehicles that are less than 2-years-old.

The plastic bag levy will be increased from 10 cents to 20 cents.

The Minister for Economy has also announced that they are working towards complete ban of plastic bags by 2020.

There will also be a 150% tax deduction to businesses for training their staff.      

There will now be a $1.25M threshold for businesses who are currently paying Environment Climate Adaptation Levy and Service Turnover Tax.

The threshold is aligned to the $1.5M for restaurants.

TELS and National Toppers

The government has expanded the National Toppers scheme for students with another 340 full time scholarships bringing the total number of scholarships to 970.

Of these new scholarships, 20 will be awarded for overseas study and specialised courses that are not offered in Fiji including architecture, counseling, forensic science, genetic science, speech therapy, specialized education and town planning.

20 Toppers scholarships will be awarded locally for students in the area of tourism, fisheries and forestry and those course work aligned with the national development agenda.

5 scholarships will be awarded locally for students entering PHD Programs.

The remaining scholarships are spread out amongst the existing priority areas under the Toppers Scheme that has already produced talented and accomplished young Fijians.

This will be available from next year.

$206M has been allocated to TELS in the next financial year expanding the reach of the program to over 25,000 students.

There is more good news for TELS recipients as those that repay their loans more quickly under TELS are going to enjoy a major discount on their payment.

Sayed-Khaiyum says depending on how fast you can pay you can have a 50% or 25% or 10% of your student debt erased completely.

The Minister for Economy says based on what you owe you will have a full set of years to make your payments and enjoy these incentives.

This means that the faster you pay your debt the less you pay overall.

This is called Accelerated Repayment Incentives.

Students will also receive statements on their debt position during and after their studies and they will soon be able to view the statements on their mobile phones through the Digital Fiji app.

Under TELS, the students whose parents who were receiving $25,000 and below were receiving allowance and now the threshold has been increased to $50,000.

Bus fare allowance has also been increased from $15 a week to $30 a week.

$18.1M has also been allocated to 15 technical colleges around the country.

Education

The Education Sector has received the biggest budget ever.

$1 billion has been allocated to the Education Sector.

Sayed-Khaiyum says free education will continue but those who can pay the fees can pay any amount to assist in construction of schools in the maritime areas.

The bus fare assistance program will continue as well as the free milk program for year 1 students.

The scout program will start for the primary and secondary schools from Term 1 of 2019.

The Accident Compensation Commission Fiji will now cover school yard injuries so that families of students hurt in school can benefit from a no fault payment scheme which will go towards the cost of their recovery.

$5M has been allocated to recruit 200 primary school teachers and 50 secondary school teachers.

This is to improve the teacher students ratio.

50 full time scholarships will also be available to teachers with a set criteria.

Sayed-Khaiyum says the school curriculum will be reviewed.

It was earlier highlighted that they will look at having Learners and Advanced Maths in schools.

New adult education will be offered by the Fiji National University.

Health
$382M has been allocated to the Health Sector.

Ba and Lautoka hospitals are being upgraded.

Sayed-Khaiyum says Ba hospital is about to be completed.

Open heart surgery will be available 24/7.

The Attorney General says real change is coming.

A special program will also be set up for the benefit of the people in the health sector.

The launch of the new General Practitioners program will start on 1st January, 2019.

$11M has been set aside for the CWM Maternity Unit Hospital.

Sayed-Khaiyum says it will be an international standard hospital.

$2.5M has been allocated for the Valelevu Health Centre while $500,000 has been set aside for the upgrade of Korovou Hospital.

There will be new dialysis treatment centres in Nadi, Suva and more dialysis machines.

Dialysis treatment ‑ $75 per session for those with household income less than $30,000 while $150 per session for machines allocated by the government.

Civil Service and Social Welfare Recipients
A new insurance package has been announced for civil servants and social welfare recipients.

Family Insurance for all social welfare recipients and civil servants, brings a package of protections that includes life, home and injury insurance.

All premiums for this insurance will be fully covered by the government.

Sayed-Khaiyum says the Performance Management System is now fully in place for civil servants.

He says assessments are being carried out to reward high performing civil servants.

The Minister for Economy says more pay rise is on the way for high performing civil servants.

A Scarce Skills Allowance will also be introduced for the civil service.

Free Bus Fare for Pensioners and People with Disabilities
Persons with disabilities and pensioners will travel in buses for free.

The government will pay the fares.

Housing
Good news for those looking to become first time home owners as households with a combined income below $50,000 will be eligible to receive a grant of $10,000 if they buy a house or $15,000 if they are looking to build a house.

Government has introduced a subsidy for home loans for those first home buyers with a combined income of less than $40,000 who have financed their home loan through the concessional finance facility under the Reserve Bank of Fiji.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says a new Ministry of Housing and Community Development will be set up with an aim to increase the home ownership rate in the country.

They will also look at redesigning housing in Lautoka.

The Government will work with Singapore on the designs.

He says 11 development plans under the iTaukei landowners assistance are now underway.

They hope more will follow.

Multi Family Unit to be developed by FNPF
The Minister for Economy has also announced that multi family units will be developed by FNPF.

The government will sign an agreement with FNPF soon.

Police
600 police constables will be regularised. This also means they will get higher pay.

2018 General Elections
$20M has been allocated by the government to the Fijian Elections Office for the 2018 National Elections.

Sugar
A stabilisation price will be set up at $85 per tonne for the sugar industry.

Free Wifi
People can receive free high speed Wifi for 60 minutes everyday on a daily basis in certain areas around the country.

These areas include My Suva Park, Sukuna Park, Sigatoka Bus Stand, Koroivolu Park in Nadi, Shirley Park in Lautoka, Ba Bus Stand, Korovou Market, Syria Park in Nausori, Labasa Civic Centre and Savusavu Market.

$40M has been allocated to the ICT sector for increased speed in public Wifi hot spots in Fiji.

This allocation will also allow for the installation of free high speed Wifi hot spots for all Fiji National University campuses in Fiji.

$300,000 has also been allocated for the provision and improvement of internet services in secondary schools.

While speaking during the 2018/2019 National Budget, Sayed-Khaiyum said that rubbish pick ups will be done everyday.

This will start in Nasinu and will be rolled out to other areas soon.

A new national competition to clean up Fiji will also start from next year.

Fines will also be introduced for mobile companies who have prolonged down times.

Sayed-Khaiyum has also confirmed that electronic transactions will no longer carry any fees when you swipe your cards at retail outlets.

It has also be announced that the Fiji Roads Authority will work on a 4 lane road project from Nadi to Lautoka.

Sayed-Khaiyum says the Ministry of Economy will also carry out regular checks on budget spending.

Funds will be taken away if the Key Performance Indicators are lagging behind.

Girmitiyas
$500,000 will be allocated for the commemoration of the 140 years since the arrival of the first Girmitiyas to Fiji.

A museum will also be constructed either in Lautoka or Nadi.

Sayed-Khaiyum also says that most of the wholesale importers are no longer dictating market prices.

He says they expect other importers to follow suit.

Bold Budget
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says that they have another bold and historic National Budget. He says the budget is built on strong and stable Fijian families.

He also says that they have empowered hundreds of thousands of people with new jobs.

Sayed-Khaiyum says Fiji is running an operating budget surplus and they are only borrowing for capital projects.

He says back in 1996, the then Rabuka government took a huge amount of debt to bail out the National Bank of Fiji deposits.

Sayed-Khaiyum says now many of the voices are trying to tell lies.

Sayed-Khaiyum says this is deeply concerning as the President has said that the Fijian economy is something that everyone should protect.

He says this is not fair game.

The Minister for Economy also says that they did not want to play Father Christmas and just say that they are giving everything away.

He stresses that this is a true family budget.

The total revenue forecast for the 2018/2019 National Budget is $4.236 billion while the total expenditure is $4.65 billion.