Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, held a budget consultation with members of the Ovalau community in Levuka last night.
While speaking at the event, the A-G outlined initiatives introduced by the Government to keep the economy and Fijian businesses afloat during the pandemic.
These included more than $500m in financial assistance disbursed to those in the formal and informal sectors, maintaining full pay for all civil servants, the Fiji Development Bank $200 million COVID-19 Recovery Credit Guarantee Scheme, Fiji Recovery Rebate Package and the COVID-19 Engagement of Private Medical General Practitioners Scheme.
“We are looking at how our revenue has been affected, what changes we can do and what areas of expenditure we may need to expand or reduce because we need to ensure that our budget is always on track,” the A-G said.
During the session, Levuka Town Council Special Administrator, Ben Naidu, highlighted that this was the first formal budget consultation for the island of Ovalau.
Consultations for the mini-budget are now underway, with the announcement expected to take place on 24 March.