The Attorney General and Minister for Finance, Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum led Round 1 of the 2016 Budget Consultations over the past five days, meeting with all the government ministries and a number of associations and independent institutions.
The meetings, which covered ministry submissions for the 2016 National Budget, follow the AG’s recent unprecedented public consultations on the budget in Suva, Lautoka, and Labasa.
The AG said that the 2016 Budget Consultations are designed to boost ministry involvement in the formulation of the 2016 National Budget and increase intra-government communication, coordination and transparency.
“These consultations are designed to make formulation of the 2016 National Budget as participatory as possible. We want to give every Ministry the opportunity to advocate the merit of their submissions directly to the Ministry of Finance. This week, we will hear submissions from all ministries to assist in the formulation of the 2016 National Budget,” the AG said.
The AG also highlighted that the Ministry of Finance team will meet directly with various NGO and private sector organizations in the upcoming weeks.