Tuisawau misled parliament by stating that government has decreased salaries - AG

Minister for Economy and Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says that SODELPA President, Ro Filipe Tuisawau has misled parliament by stating that government has decreased salaries.

Sayed-Khaiyum highlighted this after Ro Filipe questioned him in parliament on what is the government doing to cushion the cost of living apart from decreasing the salaries.

Ro Filipe says a rosy picture has been given by the Minister in the past few years in terms of the budget. 

Sayed-Khaiyum says Ro Filipe does not know what is happening around him as government has increased salaries for civil servants by up to 80 percent.

When further questioned by SODELPA MP, Niko Nawaikula if government will sell more assets to cushion the effect of a possible crisis, Sayed Khaiyum says government will not do that as they had announced its divestment policies a few years ago.

He says that they are looking at the strategic assets where they may need to diverse shares to bring private sector participation.

The Minister was also asked by Assistant Minister for Infrastructure, Vijay Nath to provide an update on recent developments in the global economy, its implications on Fiji’s major trading partner and possible impact on Fiji.    

Sayed-Khaiyum says it is important for all members of parliament  to be aware of the overall economic situation globally.

He says as highlighted in the budget, people had been warned in the pending slowdown in the global economy in 2019.

Sayed-Khaiyum says last year the International Monetary Fund had projected global growth at 3.3% for 2019 which is down from 3.6% in the year before.

He says in July the IMF reduced its global growth forecast further from 3.3 % to 3.2% which is the lowest mark since the global financial crisis and this has already been highlighted that this growth is coming from emerging economies.

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