Fiji’s economy had already taken a nosedive in 2019, way before COVID-19 reached our shores, says economist and National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad.
Speaking during the Fiji Council of Social Services Talanoa Sautu virtual discussion recently, he claimed the country experienced negative growth in 2019.
Prof Prasad said COVID-19 only exacerbated the economic situation which had resulted from failed government economic policies.
“Before COVID-19 hit us, we had the 2019-2020 household expenditure survey and on the basis of that report, 30 per cent of our people were living below the poverty line which amounts to 258,000 individuals,” he said.
“Now, after COVID-19 with the thousands losing income, a large percentage of our people were struggling to make a living.”
Prof Prasad said small and medium enterprises, which made up the bulk of businesses in Fiji, were badly ravaged by the pandemic.
“I would say close to 15 to 20 per cent of individuals fell further into poverty, if you add that to the 258,000, you could easily look at approximately 400,000 individuals falling below the poverty line struggling to make ends meet.
“Divide that by four in a household, there are roughly 100,000 households in the country right now that are struggling to make ends meet and that’s a huge number.”
Prof Prasad said Fiji was currently living off the bulk of funding from donor partners who had supported the country not only in terms of money but support in kind.
“We can see from what non-governmental organisations are doing, the sort of response they are getting and the requests they are receiving show that people are going through dire situations.”
