Staff Reporter
Fiji’s Attorney General and Minister of Economy Aiyaz Syed-Khaiyum has refuted allegations by the Head of Catholic Church of Fiji that poverty rates and income inequality are on the rise.
The Church has since apologised for the allegations published in its Newsletter on October 5, 2018 but Mr Syed-Khaiyum has issued the following Statement “to set the record right.”
Given the number of concerned Fijians who have brought the Newsletter issued by the Head of the Catholic Church to our attention, we are providing the Truth to the Fijian people on the strong record of Government in lifting Fijian families out of poverty.
The Poverty Issue
False Claim:Poverty is on the rise in Fiji.
The Truth: The Household Income and Expenditure Survey is the only authoritative source that measures poverty statistics in Fiji.
The most recent survey statistics are available from 2013-2014.
Set out below is a breakdown of the most recent statistics from the survey that clearly show thatpoverty in Fiji is in decline in recent years.
The above graph shows that the overall National Poverty Rate in Fiji is decreasing.
That is occurring in rural and urban areas alike: Rural Poverty in Fiji has decreased from 43% in 2008-2009 to 36.7% in 2013-2014 and Urban Poverty has decreased from around 28% in 2002-2003 to 19.8% in 2013-2014.
Tax Reform beneficiaries
False Claim: Tax reforms in Fiji are benefitting the wealthy
The Truth:Our tax system is becoming fairer and disadvantaged Fijians are paying less taxes because of the reforms we have put in place.
We have brought down VAT across the board from 15% to 9% and Fijians who earn under $30,000 a year have been completely freed from paying any income tax.
We are taxing smarter, not harder.
We have targeted taxation on non-essential services to help fund programmes that directly assist disadvantaged Fijians.
No more evasion
We have closed loopholes that were used for years to evade our taxation system and leave the tax burden on disadvantaged Fijian families. Those days are over.
We are supporting Fijian families by increasing social wages.
We have eliminated the cost of education; we are subsidising water, electricity and transportation to schools; we provide free textbooks; we fund the Social Pension Scheme for those over the age of 65; we provide free transportation to Fijians with disabilities and pensioners; we provide allowances to Fijians with disabilities; we give food vouchers to rural pregnant women; we give $1000 to families on the birth of a child through Parenthood Assistance Payments;we have increased paid maternity leave days;we have introduced Family Care Leave and Paternity Leave for the first time; and we have introduced other measures to expand the social safety net.
Equality on the rise
Our society is becoming more equal.
The latest study by the International Monetary Fund has showed the gap between the rich and the disadvantaged is decreasing in Fiji. Income inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, is going down, from 40.4 in 2008 to 36.4 in 2013.
Income inequality has decreased from 40.4 to 36.4
Human Development High
A critical measure of a nation’s progress is the Human Development Index, as measured by the United Nations Development Programme.
This index is determined by a wide range of factors, including access to education, health outcomes and per capita income.
Fiji has moved from a Medium Human Development Status country to a High Human Development Status country. A remarkable achievement in a short period of time.
These are the facts.
