Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube is calling on the Government to review the list of goods under price control with the view of temporarily extending it. He said this would allow Government and the corporate sector to also adjust the template of computing the rise in prices for equitable burden sharing. He said after nearly two years of coming into power, the government’s solution to the cost of living in the 2024/2025 national budget focused mainly on raising incomes through higher minimum wages, and allowances for education and welfare.
“The Coalition Government is not making an impact on the galloping cost of living which continues to hurt families across Fiji,” the former Reserve Bank Fiji governor said. “The rise in cost of many items and services cannot be explained by any economic logic. “The sellers are simply jumping on the cost-of-living locomotive to make as much money as possible.
” Mr Narube said Unity Fiji had always advocated the need to address the higher cost of living from both sides and the full burden of the rising cost was borne entirely by the people. He said they had also advocated a more equitable sharing of the burden of the rising costs between the corporate sector and the people. Mr Narube suggested that Government shift custom taxes away from the basic items to luxury items without compromising total revenue and review Fiji’s exchange rate policy to strengthen the stability of the Fiji dollar.