UPDATES: 2024-2025 National Budget Coverage

• The 3 percent duty on the importation of raw materials in the last Budget has been removed.
• A 200 percent deduction will be allowable for donations over $10,000 towards the 2031 Pacific Games.  Similar to the tax incentive provided to Fijian Drua, a 13-year tax holiday, duty concessions on imported sports equipment and 200 percent tax deduction will be extended to Fiji National Rugby League.
• The water resource tax rate will increase from 1 cent per litre to 5 cents per litre, for producers who extract between 0 to less than 10 million litres per month. The rate for producers extracting over 10 million litres per month remains unchanged at 19.5 cents per litre which was increased from 18 cents per litre in the last Budget.
• Excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco products will increase by 5 percent.
• To support construction and bring down building costs, the fiscal duty on prefabricated buildings will reduce from 32 percent to 5 percent while fiscal duty on steel structures or articles of iron will be maintained at 5 percent.
• The standard allowance for renovations and extension of hotels will be reduced from 50 percent to 25 percent, similar to pre-COVID levels.
• The departure tax will increase from $140 to $170, effective from 1st August 2024 and will return to the pre-pandemic rate of $200 from 1st August 2025.
• The Legal Aid Commission is provided a budget of $11.9 million. They have also re-established the Fiji Law Reform Commission with a budget funding of around $600,000
• The Fijian Parliament is allocated a sum of $18.2 million, an increase of $1.9 million. The DPP’s Office is provided an increased budget of $8.1 million. The Office of the Auditor-General is provided $6.9 million. We have beefed up the budget for the Electoral Commission to around $565,000 while $7.4 million is provided to the Fijian Elections Office. A funding of $10.5 million has been provided to FICAC.
• A total budget of $131.3 million is provided to our independent bodies and commissions.
• An independent and a well–resourced judiciary is critical for any well-functioning democracy. We are providing $52.1 million to the Judiciary, an increase of $2 million.
• The Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) plays an important role in ensuring the safety and security of our nation and supports international peacekeeping. RFMF is allocated a sum of $169.6 million in this Budget including Peacekeeping operations.
• For the set up of drug rehabilitation centres in Fiji, we have introduced a tax holiday of 13 years, including duty free importation of capital goods required for the establishment of the center. We are also going to provide a full tax deduction for businesses that donate to any drug rehabilitation centre. Whilst we encourage non-governmental organisations, the government is also exploring options for the setup of such centres.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs has also launched the Counter Narcotics Strategy 2023-2028 with a focus on seven strategic areas, including demand reduction, supply reduction, harm reduction, legal reform, data collection, establishment of a Drug Court, and partnership and international cooperation.
• Through this Budget they are establishing a Narcotics Bureau within the Ministry of Home Affairs with a total budget provision of $2 million. The Narcotics Bureau will focus on law enforcement; investigations; prosecution; intelligence gathering; and conducting awareness in collaboration with key agencies.
• A new MOU would be established between the Fiji Police Force and the Australian Federal Police. This would offer provisions to embed Australian Federal Police Officers within the Fiji Police Force, and appointment of a mentor to support the new Police Commissioner.
• $226.8 million allocated to our Police force, an increase of $41.7 million.
• Government is initiating a ‘full reset’ of the Fiji Police Force towards law enforcement. The Police Reset Strategy would broadly include: development of a new overarching strategy for the Fiji Police Force aimed to modernize the Force through right-sizing and stirring a shift in culture.
• This includes $6.5 million to cater for 24 overseas sporting tours, $4 million to host international tournaments here in Fiji, $1.9 million for the engagement of overseas coaches and around $600,000 for the construction of hard courts in Rakiraki, Lautoka and Taveuni.
• The Ministry of Youth and Sports is provided a budget of $23.4 million
• A sum of $2 million is allocated for Disaster Recovery Support and $4 million is allocated for procurement of 100,000 blank passport booklets annually for the next 5 years.
• We are providing additional 20 new positions to improve service delivery within the Fijian Immigration Department.
• Ministry of Trade Co-operatives & Small Medium Enterprises, overall is allocated a total budget of $106.6 million and will continue to fund new and outstanding film tax rebates, investment in ease of doing business, digitalfiji, integrated human resource management, trade enhancement program and northern development program.
• New Co-operative grant which will provide $100,000 maximum, to registered co-operatives within 15 sectors to diversify their business into multiple income generating activities.
• Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation is allocated a sum of $68.8 million in this budget including the Tourism Fiji grant of $44 million and $13.6 million for the Fiji Tourism Development Program in Vanua Levu
• $9.7 million is allocated to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. We have allocated $2.7 million for the completion of the Naboro Landfill and $0.5 million is allocated for Implementation of the Climate Change Act.
• $1 million for the construction of evacuation centers and retrofitting existing evacuation centers.
• The Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management is allocated a sum of $37.9 million, an increase of $8.8 million to continue support for Grant to Self Help projects, Community Access Roads, footpaths and footbridges projects, rural housing and urgent upgrade and renovation of existing divisional quarters.
• To further support and promote indigenous owned businesses, we will now accommodate existing indigenous companies to qualify for tax holidays and duty concessions if they invest in the Tax Free Regions. This incentive was previously only provided to new businesses, but we are bringing this flexibility to support our indigenous businesses.
• In this Budget they are also introducing a new scheme to provide interest free loans to support development of the iTaukei resource owners and investments by provincial holding companies. The Fiji Development Bank and Merchant Finance have already partnered with the Government to provide loans with 3 years of interest subsidy paid by the Government. Govt has provided $4 million which can cater for almost $60 million of interest free loans.
• Ministry of iTaukei Affairs -  $39.4 million budget compared to around $17 million prior to the coalition government.
• $101 million has been allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture to boost the agricultural economy.
• For the construction of gas crematorium in Labasa, Navua, Lautoka and Ba we are allocating $1.2 million in this Budget.
• Multi-Ethnic Affairs we are again providing a budget of $5.9 million. Of this, $2.3 million is allocated to promote language, culture and arts and small community projects.
• We are working towards strengthening the Sugar Cane Growers Council and making it more democratic so it truly represents the farmers will and interest. We have provided $200,000 for the conduct of the cane growers council elections and a further $800,000 for the operations of the Council.
• The Ministry of Sugar Industry & Multi-Ethnic Affairs is provided an increased funding of $76.1 million. Of this, $66 million is provided to cater for farm development to increase cane production, fertilizer and weedicide subsidy, subsidy for cane cartage, upgrade of cane access roads, lease premium assistance, drainage, farm mechanization, subsidy for manual harvesting and working capital support to FSC to repay its EXIM Bank of India loan.
• For the 2023 season the cane price is around $102 per tonne and a record in itself.
• A total of $7.9 million is provided for capital grants which will cater for development of the Veikoba bridge to support Housing Authority’s residential lot development in Valelevu, subsidy for Public Rental Board, expansion of the Koroipita model town development and grant to Habitat for Humanity.
• To continue with the first home buyers grants, a budget of $5.5 million is provided.
• The Ministry of Housing has been provided a budget of $32.3 million. A funding of $13.5 million is provided for the formalization of informal settlements. This will cater for ongoing projects in Sakoca, Tavela, Field 4, Tore and commencement of work in Valewaquyaya in Ba and Vunika in Labasa.
• To increase the supply of affordable housing units, Government had called for a tender for the private sector to develop and build around 3,000 housing units in 5 Housing Authority sites, including Nepani, Raiwaqa, Davuilevu, Wainibuku and Tavakubu. This is a public private sector partnership project that has been designed with the support of International Finance Cooperation, the private sector arm of the World Bank. They are currently assessing the tender bids and a final decision will be made soon.
• The Government has re-established the Drainage Board and a Taskforce in the four divisions to coordinate all drainage systems to enhance inter-ministerial coordination. $2.7 million dollars is allocated to the Drainage Board to maintain existing drainage systems and enhance water management practices.
• They are embarking on a major project to provide around 1,700 boreholes across the country - 1,000 in Viti Levu, 500 in Vanua Levu and 200 in our maritime islands.
• This project will be undertaken in phases and today they are allocating $5.7 million to the Ministry of Lands and Mineral resources and a Taskforce will be established in partnership with the Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development, Water Authority of Fiji, the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Finance.
• Water Authority of Fiji is provided a total budget of $259.4 million.
• The Ministry of Infrastructure and the Department of Public Enterprises, the Ministry intends to take steps over the next six months towards the corporatisation of the Water Authority of Fiji.
• They are also announcing a LTA amnesty on thousands of vehicles that have been grounded during COVID pandemic. During COVID we saw that people could not register their vehicles and when they went back to LTA, fees for all pending years were charged. This will no longer be the case. Effective 1st August 2024, they are providing an amnesty which will allow these vehicles to be registered.
• The Ministry has been allocated a sum of $5 million for the maintenance and upgrade of rural roads. Government has also re-established the Public Works Department with increased funding of $8 million. PWD will be gradually expanded over the years and will focus on rural roads and public buildings.
• They are also undertaking a major national study on urban traffic particularly traffic between Nadi and Lautoka, Lami, Suva and Nausori corridor in conjunction with our development partners.
• The Fiji Roads Authority is provided $354.8 million for the on-going construction and maintenance of roads, upgrading and replacement of bridges and jetties and the upgrading of rural roads.
• The Ministry of Public Works has been allocated a sum of $721.4 million, including the funding for the Water Authority and the Fiji Roads Authority
• All students have to fully serve their bond. If they choose to migrate before the completion of the bond, then they will have to pay the remaining balance with a 50 percent penalty before leaving the country. If students do not have sufficient funds to pay off, the overseas employer should clear full payment and students can make repayment arrangements with them. Effective from 1st August 2024, graduates will not be allowed to make arrangements to do bond repayment from overseas unless determined by FRCS and TSLS on a case-by-case basis.
• We are introducing a 50 percent penalty on non-served bond periods. If students do not wish to fully serve the bond period and pay off the remaining bond service on apportioned amount, then a penalty will be applied on the remaining amount. A 50 percent penalty will be applied to the balance of the bond service. The 50 percent penalty is based on the previously used penalty rates, which was initially set at 100 percent, reduced to 50 percent and later reduced to 10 percent. The rationale is in the national interest and to get maximum return of the investment by having the graduates to serve the country.
• Effective from 1st January 2025, new and continuing students will be granted only two probations for failing to maintain the required GPA and pass rate for respective schemes after which they will be suspended for one academic term. The three-probation granted from the Covid-19 period will no longer be applicable.
• Incentivizing Apprenticeship training in the current Financial Year has attracted huge confidence of Employers and students in the scheme. Under this scheme, the employer pays $2 whilst the Government pays the additional cost to ensure that the national minimum wage rate is paid to those on apprenticeship scheme. The number of awards for this scheme for 2024-2025 Financial Year will increase from 400 to 500 awards.
• Government is targeting unemployed youths who are early school leavers to take 150-160 hours of competency-based training to assist with securing some form of employment.
• The Government is allocating $10,000 per student for 30 TSLS sponsored graduates or final semester graduating students to undergo training and start a business with the support from the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation.
• Govt is also introducing a merit based in-service overseas scholarship for postgraduate diploma in specialised areas. A sum of $1.6 million is allocated to fund 20 in-service students to undertake specialist postgraduate diplomas in health, veterinary science and engineering studies.
• We are introducing a new scheme to fund 20 students to pursue PhD and masters in priority research areas at selected universities in Australia. The tuition cost will be borne by the Australian University while the Government will provide partial support to cover for airfares, stipend and any other associated cost.  A sum of $1.4 million is allocated for this.
• In the 2024-2025 Budget we have allocated $150.5 million to TSLS to fund 9,940 continuing students and 10,830 new students. In this Budget, we are introducing some new schemes and value adding on some of the existing schemes.
• The Sangam Institute of Technology is provided a budget of $545,000 for its operations, while $1 million dollars additional is provided for its capital works to expand its infrastructure in Labasa and start establishment of a new nursing school facility in Nadi.
• Pacific Polytech which caters for many of our young people who fall through the cracks in terms of completing their education, or qualifying for a trade – the majority of them are iTaukei students and we must address this to provide a second chance at a more meaningful future. Since its inception in August 2023, more than 1,100 students have completed various national qualifications under the Fiji National Qualification Framework. To support this further given the exodus of many of our workers, we are providing an increased grant of $5 million to Pacific Polytech.
• The University of Fiji is provided an increased grant of $5 million, of which $1 million is for the construction of Center for i-Taukei Studies to support preservation and promotion of indigenous Fijian art and culture through teaching, research and publication.
• The Fiji National University will be provided a funding grant of $36.5 million. The Ministry of Education has commenced the reviews of the tertiary education institutions which includes FNU. The review will also focus on putting a focus on quality.
• A further $5 million is allocated for the payment of USP's outstanding grant. Apart from this, $33.5 million is provided to USP as its normal grant.
• $628 million allocated to the Education Ministry.
• $778 million is provided towards education and skill development, the largest allocation in this budget.
• HCF is working with the government to find a solution on coming up with a proper services agreement.
• FNPF has concluded that, regardless of the way it came into this project, it will have to stay in and work out the best way to get a commercial return on it. FNPF is now actively reviewing its own options. This may include a scheme to provide health insurance to its own members. If an economic case can be made for this, such a scheme could provide additional business for Lautoka Hospital, with resulting benefits to the project and to the whole country.
• Although FNPF had not bid to be part of the project, it was effectively ordered by the previous government to take an 80% stake in a new company called Health Care Fiji Pte Limited, or HCF. FNPF took 80% of its shares with 20% for Aspen. FNPF was given no option. It was given no chance to evaluate this investment for itself or to work out its economic return.
• Unfortunately, health services in the Ba and Lautoka Hospitals are costing about $10 million per month or about $120 million per year as per the arrangement by the previous government. So these two hospitals, alone, are consuming more than one-fifth of the entire national health budget. It is important to remember that the Ministry of Health budget is not just about hospitals.  It also has to cover administration, preventive health services, disease control and disaster preparation, health screening and many other things.
• For capital construction and maintenance works, they are providing $12 million for the interior works at the Labasa Hospital, refurbishment and upgrade of our urban and sub-divisional hospitals, health centres and nursing stations, refurbishment of Savusavu health facility and the construction of a new rehabilitation centre in Tamavua. An additional $3.8 million is provided specifically for minor upgrade and maintenance works at all our health facilities around the country.
• For the procurement of drugs and medical equipment of around $96 million dollars is provided in the 2024-2025 Budget.
• To assist those on kidney dialysis, we have allocated $3 million for the continuation of the $180 per session subsidy for dialysis patients, which was increased from $150 to $180 in the last budget.
• Those under the social welfare schemes, free medicine scheme and receiving kidney dialysis subsidy get an automatic access without any further assessment or income verification. They just need to present their welfare or free medicine card at the participating GPs. So far, Govt has paid $19 million to extend these services and in this budget they are estimating an additional cost of $5 million.
• We are continuing with our public private partnership with the general practitioners. But to reduce the abuse, in the last budget we had introduced an income threshold of $30,000 to access these free services.
• We have also seen major investments in some of our private medical facilities including the Pacific Specialist Health Care, Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children's Hospital, for which we are again providing a Government contribution of $4 million in this Budget, and many other providers who are expanding and modernizing their services.
• Indian Government grant towards construction and running of a 100 bed Super Specialty Hospital here in Suva. We have made good progress in identifying the land in Nasinu, behind the Fiji National University and the construction design works and other preliminary works are currently underway.
• In partnership with the Australian Government, we have already embarked on a major technical work to put together a master plan for the redevelopment or relocation of CWM. The long-term goal is the construction of a state-of-the-art national referral hospital which is modern, resilient, and patient-centred.
• We are providing a total of $540 million to the health sector – around $450 million to the Ministry of Health and $90 million for the operations and running of the Ba and Lautoka hospitals under the PPP arrangement.
• We are working on strategies to increase the female labour force participation rate which currently stands at a low of 39 percent, compared to 77 percent for males. This includes targeted training, provision of child care services at work places and adoption of gender responsive budgeting.
• $1 million is provided to assist and empower women institutions, implement the Women's Plan of Action and strengthen the Domestic Violence helpline. They are also providing $500,000 for the Women’s Expo which provides an opportunity for our women from around the country to showcase their talents, market their products, generate income and encourage and empower other women in Fiji.
• The government is providing $2 million to provide relief packages to homeowners affected by termites. Assistance is targeted towards repairs and reconstruction of affected houses. For those households with income less than $30,000 a grant of $5,000 will be provided while those between $30,000 and $50,000  income will receive a grant of $2,000.
• $40 million allocated for the provision of the back to school support. Professor Prasad says the $200 back to school support for children from families with household income of less than $50,000 has become one of the flagship initiatives of the Coalition Government
• To help rationalize the transport assistance scheme, we are also going to raise the entitlement age from 60 years to 65 years effective from 1st August 2024 and align it with the eligibility criteria for the social pension scheme.
• Pensioners over the age of 70 will now receive a monthly cash allowance of $150, an increase from the current $125 per month.
• To bring greater flexibility and help our people with disabilities and the elderly, effective from 1st August 2024, we will convert the bus fare allowance into a cash allowance of $25 per month. All our social pensioners above the age of 70 years and those on disability allowance will now receive a $25 per month cash allowance instead of the current bus card top-up
• We are again providing a total budget of around $200 million to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection to continue the increased social welfare allowances for around 104,000 beneficiaries under the family assistance scheme, social pension scheme, care and protection allowance, disability allowance, rural pregnant mother food allowance and transport assistance scheme.
• Ensuring fair and efficient resolution of financial consumer concerns, especially for vulnerable groups, is crucial. To achieve this, a Financial Services Ombudsman will be established within the existing structure of the Reserve Bank of Fiji
• ACCF will now focus on its core role to manage the no fault motor vehicle accidents.
• To bring greater synergy, efficiency and cost optimisation, the functions of Accident Compensation Commission of Fiji relating to workers compensation and student injury will be transferred to the Ministry of Employment.
• This payout is only for pensioners that opted to continue on a full pension but at reduced rates and excludes all those that chose to either fully or partially withdraw their funds.
• The cost of reinstatement will be fully borne by the Government and we have agreed to provide a funding of $4 million for this year. The full cost is estimated to be around $57 million over the next 2 decades.
• All FNPF pensioners that reluctantly opted for a reduced pension rate, will have their pension restored effective from 1st August 2024 and moving forward.
• Recently, FNPF has strategically expanded its investments to new and resilient sectors. The partnership with Google, facilitated by the Government for the expansion of the Pacific Connect Initiative is a major transformative investment that will not only increase the returns for FNPF members but also support the growth and development of the ICT sector.
• Major amendment to the FNPF Act to bring back the tripartite spirit in the board composition of FNPF. Effectively, this means that by law the government will be required to have an employer representative and an employee representative in the Board of FNPF.
• This is the highest interest paid in the past 2 decades and on 1st July, $562.2 million will be added to the FNPF balances of over 417,000 members
• The FNPF Board has declared an 8 percent interest payout to its members for the financial year ending 30 June 2024.
• This was the longest strike in the world from 1991.
• The Coalition Government together with the Fiji Trade Union Congress and Fiji Mine Workers Union, have finally reached a resolution with a total payout of $9.2 million. Each of the 368 mining workers on strike will be paid $25,000, with the first $10,000 paid from this Budget and the remainder of $15,000 paid from the 2025-2026 Budget.
• We are open to looking at solutions for those employers who are challenged by these new rates. But we also intend that the new minimum wages will improve productivity and reduce employee absenteeism by providing greater incentives to lower-paid employees to improve their attendance and aspire to higher incomes by acquiring more skills and experience to become more productive.
• The 10 sectoral wages will also increase. Effective from 1st  August 2024, all sectoral wages will increase by 50 cents across the board, followed by a further 50 cents from 1st April 2025.
• For example, a cashier who is currently earning $4.44 an hour will have his or her minimum wage increase to $4.94 from 1st August 2024 and to $5.44 from 1st April 2025. A foreman in the construction industry currently on $6.54 will have his or her minimum wage increase to $7.54 from 1st April 2025.
• The national minimum wage will be increased to $5.00 per hour.
• The actual implementation will be undertaken in 2 phases. Effective from 1st August 2024, the national minimum wage will be increased to $4.50 an hour with a further increase to $5.00 an hour effective from 1st April 2025.
• Professor Prasad says the overall increase in cost of increase in salaries and benefits of Members of Parliament, the President and the Speaker is $4.2 million, not $8.1 million. He says if adjusted for the 20 percent COVID pay cut, the increase is in fact $1.4 million.
• He says as a Coalition Government they agree that there must be a qualified and independent emoluments committee in future, a reasonable period for public consultation and careful consideration by MPs of the example they are setting, given their unique ability to vote for their own pay.
• In this regard, they believe that future emoluments review of MPs to be determined by an independent emoluments committee to be appointed by a resolution of parliament. This is the most transparent way of determining salaries of MPs.
• They are also reviewing the General Orders to relook at other employment conditions and allowances paid to civil servants.
• They are also exploring options for a medical insurance scheme for civil servants. As a large employer, this will be a costly exercise for Government and thus they will need to carefully consider the timing and mechanics of how this is going to work. 
• They are also reviewing the General Orders to relook at other employment conditions and allowances paid to civil servants.
• Following this major salary adjustment exercise, they will work with the Australian Government to undertake a holistic functional review of the civil service establishment and salary structure across public entities. There is an urgent need to bring parity in the salaries of publicly funded employees and right size the establishment. At the same time, they need a new and effective Performance Management System in the civil service. One which is fair and affordable to the Government.
• Following a Job Evaluation Exercise recently, the government is providing an additional $12 million to cater for the salary increase for the officers at Fiji Corrections Service and an additional $2 million to hire 81 new staff.
• Pay rise for Parliament staff, Legal Aid Commission, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of the Auditor-General. Others have had salary progression over the years and are thus excluded from this salary adjustment. Government is  providing an additional $5 million for this.
• This increase in the wages and salaries of our civil servants will cost the Government an additional $66 million.
• For our salary based civil servants, they will do this in a slightly different way. Given that around 5,000 of our civil servants have already had step movements in the last few months, all other 33,000 civil servants will also be given a salary increase and adjustment. For clarity, the increased salary for the 5,000 civil servants who got an early pay rise will continue.
• From 1st August 2024, all our salary based civil servants will receive a pay rise of around 7 percent to 10 percent while our wage earners will get an increment ranging from 10 percent up to 20 percent.
• For example, the lowest wage in the civil service on Band A will be increased from $4.60 an hour to $5.60 an hour, an increase of 20 percent. Those on Band B receiving $6.27 an hour on step 3, will get a 16 percent increase, with a new hourly rate of $7.27. For our drivers who are currently getting $7.33 per hour on Band C, step 3, they will have their rates increased to $8.33 per hour, an increase of around 14 percent.
• Today we have more than 42,000 publicly funded employees, including around 38,000 in the civil service and almost 4,000 in independent institutions and state funded entities. This comes at a huge cost of around $1.2 billion.
• The 2013 constitutional provisions removed the central oversight and establishment control of the civil service away from the Public Service Commission to respective Permanent Secretaries. This led to an uncontrolled growth in the size of the civil service
• Professor Prasad says under the disguise of OMRS, many career civil servants were denied promotions while those without any experience in the civil service were prioritized for senior leadership positions.
• He says unfortunately, the civil service has suffered from years of neglect with stagnant remuneration and deteriorating employment conditions. The civil service also suffered from lack of investment in adequate training, capacity building and poor succession planning.
• Major pay rise for civil servants, which will inject almost $85 million into the pockets of around 42,000 public sector employees. This pay rise ranges from 7 percent up to 20 percent depending on the salary bands.
• For the 2024-2025 Budget, tax collections are estimated at $3.3 billion while non-tax revenue collections are budgeted at $618 million.
• Major growth in tax collections following the reforms last year. FRCS is expected to exceed the $3 billion dollar mark in tax collections for the first time this year.
• The debt to GDP ratio is projected to decline further to around 77.8 percent by the end of July 2025.
• The 2024-2025 Budget is set with a total expenditure of $4.552 billion and a total revenue of $3.917 billion. 
• Subsequently, the fiscal deficit is set at $635.5 million, or 4.5 percent of GDP.
• He says government debt to GDP ratio is now estimated to be around 78 percent at the end of July 2024, a substantial reduction from the 90 percent that they inherited.
• Professor Prasad says they are working on some major strategies to deal with labour issues by improving immigration services and investing in quick skill training.
• Hotels projects that are under construction include Vatu Talei through Sofitel Fiji, Crowne Plaza, Westin, Hilton Garden Inn in Suva, Wananavu Beach Resort in Rakiraki, the Cathay Hotel redevelopment in Lautoka, Paramount Hotel in Nadi and Wyndham Garden in Wailoaloa Nadi.
• A number of new hotel projects have been announced, including the Rydges by the FMF Group, Days Inn by Wyndham, Radisson Blu Mirage, One and Only in the Yasawa group, Namuka Bay Resort, Nalagi Apartments and Yatu Lau and Damodar investment in Pacific Harbour. 
• As a Government we are determined to refocus on renewable energy generation and I am hoping to make this a key priority in the coming fiscal year. 
• We need to ensure that we create the right commercial environment for both EFL and independent power producers in the renewable energy sector to thrive.  
• Reducing Fiji’s reliance on fossil fuels is not just an environmental but also a macroeconomic priority.
• We have two large agricultural investment projects through the Wonderful Company, the parent company of Fiji Water, and Innovative Agro Industries, a PNG based company that is partnering with some of our institutional investors. 
• We have also seen a rapid expansion in our BPO sector with a major project being lined up by the Lyndhurst Group in the Kalabu Tax Free Zone. A number of renewable energy projects through EFL and other private sector providers also look promising.
• We are headed in the right direction, but we need to keep the momentum going. We have attracted some major new investments like Google and Starlink and there are many new promising projects currently underway or in the final phase of getting implemented.
• Economic growth revised downwards from 3.4 to 2.8 percent this year.
• There has been a natural tapering off in growth after the last two years of strong rebounds.
• We have certainly had some challenges. This includes the continuous heavy rain in the last few months, unavailability of labour, economic slowdown in Australia and New Zealand, capacity constraints in the tourism sector and a slow start to some Government capital projects. 
• Year-end inflation is expected to stabilize around 3 percent this year and down to 2.5 percent by next year.
• Our foreign reserves position remains strong at almost $3.3 billion, equivalent to 5.3 months of import cover.
• Personal remittances increased to a phenomenal $1.25 billion last year, growing at an average of around 20 percent.
• Our visitor arrivals still growing by around 7 percent in the first 5 months of 2024
• The tourism industry flourished with a record 929,000 visitors last year.
• We will need our private sector to take the lead role in development and Government providing the enabling environment with the right infrastructure, policy certainty, ease of doing business, maintenance of the rule of law, independent state institutions and economic and political stability.
• We will need to empower our citizens and give them the right skills and resources to engage in income generating opportunities.
• We need to protect our vulnerable, the elderly and people with disabilities. We need to invest in our productive capacity, invest in skills and people and raise productivity.
• The immediate focus in the new plan is to “get the basics right” and address our critical day to day challenges like water, roads, drainage, hospitals, health services, housing and education. They will also focus on fighting drugs, HIV AIDS, NCDs, climate change, gender violence and promoting reconciliation and unity.
• The NDP is the blueprint and guiding framework for which all of the Government's development priorities are set out in 3-year, 5-year and 20-year timeframes. 
• The new National Development is “The People’s Plan” and it is now ready.
• We can assure our investors and businesses that the government is genuinely confronting these issues honestly and openly.
• He says in some of the areas that need reform, they may not be moving fast enough.
• Professor Prasad says the feedback they are receiving from investors and the business community, who are critical to our future economic growth, is that the Government could have done better for them in terms of ease of doing business and regulatory efficiency.
• Professor Prasad says for more than a decade, Government spent more than it could afford and turned a blind eye to future problems.
• He says as a government, we must plan and be prepared at all times, and for that, money must come from somewhere.
• Professor Prasad says for more than a decade, Government spent more than it could afford and turned a blind eye to future problems.
• He says as a government, we must plan and be prepared at all times, and for that, money must come from somewhere.
• The Deputy PM says we must invest more money in health, on education and on infrastructure such as water, roads and bridges, and we must be ready for a major cyclone or flood.
• Professor Prasad says even after the tax increases of last year like VAT, corporate tax, departure tax and so on, the government is compelled to spend more than it collects.
• Government debt has fallen from about 90 percent of GDP to around 78 percent.
• He says some of the measures they are announcing today will be aimed squarely at improving incomes.
• The budget theme words “security, stability and sustainability” are not glamorous, action-packed or exciting.  But they define what is needed right now. Professor Prasad says this is not a government of economic gimmicks.
• Professor Prasad says as both the Government and the Opposition, they need to focus on the challenges we face in terms of poverty, NCDs, drugs, domestic violence and inequality. These challenges do not stop or start between elections. They go on for generations.
• He says their aim is to never shift their gaze from ensuring the long-term economic stability, security and sustainability of Fiji. That is the theme of this year’s National Budget.
• Professor Prasad says they have first increased Budget transparency and certainty. They have implemented a new approach in the way in which they talk about the Budget and economic policy making. He says they have shifted away from secrecy and surprises to a more open approach where they signal their intentions early.

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