A 5-year age limit will be imposed on the importation of secondhand petrol and diesel motor vehicles. This will be aligned to the age limit of 5 years on hybrid vehicles. The Euro IV compliance requirement will be maintained. A transitional period will be allowed to import vehicles older than 5 years provided that the vehicle was ordered, paid for or loaded for shipment to Fiji on or before 16th July 2022 and that the shipment arrives in Fiji on or before 31st December 2022.
The Residential Housing and Development Incentive Package will be further incentivized as follows: A 50% developer profit exemption will be available to projects with a minimum investment level of $5m and at least 10 residential units. Customs concession (zero duty) on the importation of capital equipment, plant and machinery. There will be no condition on the sale price.
The 150% tax deduction available to hotels and resorts that hire local artists such as craftsmen, dancers and musicians will be increased to 300%
A 100% tax deduction will be available to companies on the amount of tuition and living expenses paid for student(s) at a higher education institution specified in the Higher Education Act 2008. The deduction applicable for the purpose of living expenses is limited to $7,000 per calendar year and must be paid into a bank account held at a commercial trading bank under the name of the student.
The 10% reduced rate of corporate tax available to companies listed on the SPSE will only be available for 7 years. Companies that have enjoyed for 7 years or more will now pay the corporate tax at the rate of 20%. This will be effective from Tax Year 2023. The Government will increase the FNPF employer and employee contributions from 6% to 7% from 1st January 2023 through 31st December 2023. AG says for more than a year now, FNPF members’ accounts have received contributions at a lower rate. This 1% reversal for both employers and employees should credit around $40 million to members’ accounts. Government will eventually revert the contribution rates to a total of 18% (10% for employers and 8% for employees) in the coming years. Any employer who chooses to contribute in excess of the 7% mandatory contribution up to 10%, will be allowed to deduct 300% of the additional contribution from their taxes, and that additional income for their employees will be exempt from income tax.
Duty on used cars will be increased by $1,000 while the duty on new cars will be increased by 5% import excise duty. The government will also introduce a luxury vehicle tax of $10,000 per vehicle for vehicles above 3,000cc. To further promote and support the use of green technologies, they are expanding incentives to support the purchase of Electric Vehicles and charging stations. Government had previously announced a 7 year tax deduction and a 5% subsidy for capital investments in charging infrastructure/stations for EV above $100,000. The subsidy has now increased to 10% on investments over a lower threshold of $50,000. VAT and fiscal duty on all EVs will now be zero-rated to allow accelerated depreciation of 100%. Government will also provide a $5,000 subsidy per vehicle if a local business purchases 5 vehicles or more.
The current employment taxation scheme expires in 2023 and allows for a 300% tax deduction on first full-time employees, on wages paid for work placements in a related area of study up to 6 months in a year before graduation and to students employed on a part-time basis.
Outsource Fiji will receive an increased grant of $600,000 in FY2022-2023. In addition, $1.0 million will be provided towards the BPO expansion programme.
25 digital services will roll out in 22 months.
Biz Fiji Portal - $9 million allocated for BizFiji 2.0
Jobs for Nature 2.0 - opportunity for minimum wage for wetland protection.
AG says overall, this should bring about competition for the supply of dairy products and lower prices for ordinary Fijians.
Rewa Dairy has had duty protection for 10 years. Most of Rewa’s supply of milk and other dairy products is being imported, because local demand far exceeds the supply capacity from the local dairy industry. The government will be phasing out duty protections for Fiji Dairy in the lead-up to the expiration between the Government and Southern Cross Foods Ltd on 31st August 2022.
Duty will be reduced from 32% to 5% after expiry of the agreement on cheese, yoghurt, and liquid and powdered milk.
$500,000 allocated for new forest products as part of the diversification for the forestry sector.
$4.2 million allocated for 331 new positions in the Police force.
Fiji Police Force allocated $182.6 million.
$1.3 million allocated to e-passports.
$16.9 million allocated to the Office of the Prime Minister.
$8.6 million allocated to Parliament.
$5.8 million allocated to the Office of the Auditor General.
$94.1 million allocated to RFMF. $5 million allocated to aligning of lodging allowance.
There will be a restriction of commercial vehicles entering residential areas from August 1st 2022.
$800,000 allocated to new IT system.
$22.4 million allocated to LTA.
The 25 percent pay cut for Ministers and MPs remain.
The 10 percent pay cut of senior civil servants will be restored.
Ministry of Civil Service will look at rightsizing. Look at positions that remain vacant for some time. This will ensure that the civil service is not bloated.
157 toll free line is a feedback line on the behaviour of civil servants. The best and poorest performing departments will be announced.
Teachers pay - 1,295 have upgraded their qualifications, and they are expected to move to higher salary bands.
There will be additional ward assistants and more midwives.
3 days announced for annual personal leave for teachers to attend to matters.
Job Evaluation Exercise for civil servants to retain those with scarce skills.
The guaranteed cane price will stay.
These will be imported and then seeds will be provided to farmers to start planting industrial hemp.
The THC level has to be lower than 1 percent.
The AG stresses that industrial hemp is not marijuana as the THC level is much lower.
Amend the Illicit Drugs Control Act to start industrial hemp industry in the country.
$323,050 allocated for Yaqara Pastoral.
Para vets will work with farmers. This is for those who have completed vet science programme.
$250,000 allocated for SELF for large livestock commercial farmers.
$5.2 million allocated for the extension of the CWM maternity ward.
$1 million allocated for outsourcing x-ray services, MRI and CT scans.
$2 million allocated for the refurbishment and land stabilisation of Savusavu Hospital.
Government will allocate 165 scholarships for teacher training in Maths and Physics, Industrial Arts, Primary Education and Computer Science. The Scholarship Scheme for students with special needs will continue. Awards for the In-Service Scheme will increase from 120 to 140 awards.
National Toppers - there will be 40 awards to MBBS, 5 for Bachelor of Dental Surgery and 40 for nursing. The scholarship cut-off mark for the nursing programme will be 300 in Year 13.
$200,000 allocated to incentivize GPs to open up centres in some areas.
$1 million allocated to the free General Practitioner Program.
$1.6 million allocated to elite athletics training.
$2 million allocated for international tournaments.
$1.9 million allocated for Fiji's national teams.
$6.9 million for sports grants.
$581 million in TELS debts. Huge discounts offered at 50 percent. AG says they had a meeting with banks to give them loans to take advantage of these discounts.
National Toppers will increase to 770 awards. This will include scholarships for nurses. The cut off mark for Year 13 students will be 330.
Qualifying marks will be 250 for Year 13 students and 270 marks for Year 12 students.
200 students will get these scholarships.
Skills Qualification will now be part of the scholarship program.
TVET rebranded Skills Qualification.
$500 grant allocated to private students who cannot get scholarships or loans.
$162 million allocated for scholarships, loans and grants.
A new Fiji Pharmaceutical Services warehouse will be built in Sasawira.
Funding allocated to acquire Valemasima and Sakoca as development leases. This is part of the informal settlement upgrade.
Fiji Airways will now become a national partner to manage Fiji Airports.
Valelevu Shuttle Program will cater for 13 routes by the end of the year at a cost of $4 million. Electric buses are planned to be used.
$14.6 million allocated to Walesi to connect the unconnected.
15 tower sites identified to connect telecommunications services to the unconnected.
Nadi River Flood Alleviation Project is pushing ahead.
Major service disruptions are also being experienced along the Tacirua East Sub- Division feed zone. Due to a land dispute, the government could not fully access or utilise the reservoir at the Tacirua East subdivision. They have developed an alternative route to the reservoir.
WAF has been allocated $1.1 million for the urgent completion of the pipe-laying and connection works to the Tacirua East Reservoir - AG
$500,000 has been allocated for the lighting at Churchill Park.
Assist Lautoka City Council with grandstand lighting to ensure the Drua games can be played at night.
$4 million allocated for solar energy.
The government will amend the WAF Act to allow them to issue infringement notices.
To assist social welfare pensioners with the current high inflation, all existing social welfare, Government pension and After Care Fund recipients will receive a payment of $180 over a 6 month period. It’s expected that around 100,000 Fijians will benefit from this initiative at $30 a month.
AG says they will provide one dollar per day per child in each family, or seven dollars a week or around 30 dollars per month –– making for a total of $180 per child for the next 6 months. A family with 3 children, for example, will receive $540 in grocery assistance over the next 6 months
$204.3 million allocated to the Water Authority of Fiji.
Through this budget, the government will provide direct cash assistance to the most vulnerable Fijian families based on the number of children in each household. This applies to all children, from newborns to those in Year 13 — for Fijian families with a combined annual income of $50,000 or less.
$145,000 has been allocated to conduct studies to have a Viti Levu cross country highway.
$60 million has been allocated for the maintenance of roads.
Over the next two years, $2.5 billion has been allocated for FRA capital works.
All tertiary students will get $180.
From 1st of August, the government will directly subsidise 10 percent of bus fares.
Those who are under the bus fare, water and electricity subsidy will qualify immediately.
$60 million set aside under Inflation Mitigation Package.
Direct cash assistance will be provided to vulnerable family members based on the number of children in the households.
The zero-rated VAT on the 21 items will continue - AG
Forecast revenue for the new financial year is $2.9 billion while the forecast expenditure is $3.8 billion. Debt to GDP ratio will be 85 percent.
Over $1 billion has been loaned to the private sector in the first 5 months of this year.
He says many countries have vaccinated fewer than half of their eligible populations –– Fiji’s adult population is virtually all vaccinated. He also says some people in other countries are waiting for days for fuel and cooking gas –– Fijians are not.
AG says many developed and developing nations are facing down a recession – Fiji is not. He says many nations are facing double-digit inflation, even as high as 80% – Fiji’s is in the single digits.
He also says the Opposition serve themselves and the only job they care about is their own.
Foreign reserves hit a record high of $3.62 billion equivalent to 8.4 months of imports.
He says in the coming months we expect $1 billion in investments in the private sector.
Sayed-Khaiyum says they borrowed prudently.
He says that’s at least $100 million annual savings on interest payments —mainly due to Government's ability to negotiate lower-cost, policy-based loans and concessional financing.
The average cost of our overall debt portfolio as of July is 4.4 percent of almost a quarter from pre-pandemic levels - AG
In 2 years the government lost about $2.8 billion in revenue
He says thanks to our recovery, right off the bat, this budget builds more buffers to the price-increase crisis.
The bad news is that even though wages are rising, so are prices due to challenges Fiji didn’t cause and cannot control - AG
AG says most importantly, the wages paid to our people are up by $210 million –– 15 percent higher compared to this same six-month period last year. He says this is $210 million in the pockets of our taxi drivers, tourism employees, airport staff, factory workers, farmers and families.
92% of employees have returned compared to pre-COVID - AG
Cumulative revenue collection as at 30th June 2022 amounted to $1.96 billion, of which $1.5 billion was tax revenue. Fiji is well on track to achieving the $2.25 billion annual revenue forecast, with June tax collections exceeding the forecast by $11.6 million.
500,000 visitor arrivals expected for this year.
AG says the boom is back and it is a Bula Boom.
There has also been increased vacancies recorded - AG
171,000 employment in the formal sector.
The economy is projected to grow by 12.4 percent this year.
The 2022/2023 budget creates certainty - AG
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