The Government will ensure proper mechanisms are included in the  formulation of 2022/2023 National Budget to help counter inflation.

Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says they will also consider  various ways to alleviate the hardships that will come from imported  inflation.

“There are a lot of aspects, of course, that we need to look at.  What we need to do is to be able to at least for the next six months or  so.

The fuel price is going to rise and if there is going to be an  increase in imported inflation then we as a country will need to have  some national-based policy around it.”

Sayed-Khaiyum adds that collaboration is a critical factor in finalizing  the next financial year’s national budget to ensure the needs of every  Fijians are taken into account.

“We want to ensure there’s a close collaboration with CSOs in  particular when we have these challenges that are completely out of our  control and have a deleterious on society

How it affects people on the ground is something we obviously intend  to have a more nuanced approach through the budget consultation process  and how do we address them?”

“We want to ensure there’s a close collaboration with CSOs in  particular when we have these challenges that are completely out of our  control and have a deleterious on society, in particular for food price  rises.