Wale says government must address country’s weak economy

Opposition Leader Matthew Wale said the finance minister’s description of the state of the Solomon Islands economy was inconsistent with the day-to-day experiences of ordinary citizens.

Mr Vivian said the low inflation figures cited by the Finance Minister seemed at odds with the high cost of living that many Solomon Islanders complained about.

Vivian said that as has been the experience over the past nine years, tight government cash flow has become an obstacle to providing services to the people.

“Unfortunately, this is not a new problem,” he said.

The Leader of the Opposition stressed this during his speech on the Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2024 in Parliament on Monday.

“You can talk to bus drivers, taxi drivers, truck drivers, farmers delivering produce to the market, women selling food on the roadside, even people selling betel nuts, and they will tell you the real economic situation that they know, feel and live with every day,” said Hong Ganwen.

He said life for the vast majority of Solomon Islanders was not just difficult, it was very difficult.

Weaving said that food is expensive, transportation is expensive, fuel is expensive, accommodation is expensive, tuition fees are expensive, and the purchasing power of the Solomon dollar is weak, all of which run counter to long-term low income levels.

The Opposition Leader says most workers in Solomon Islands live just from hand to mouth and most of them rely on loan sharks to make ends meet, which pushes them further into debt.

“Most Solomon Island workers have no savings other than the NPF. This is not because they do not want to save, but because the high cost of living prevents them from saving,” he said.

“If you ask an average Solomon Islander whether he or she has felt the economic growth that the minister is talking about, I think he would answer with a very resounding ‘no’.”

Councillor Weaving said this was not a problem that could be solved with a simple knee-jerk reaction.

He said it was a structural flaw in our economy.

“But the government has not, and there is no sign of, any will to address this. It’s really frustrating.

The government needs to address these serious structural problems in our economy,” the Opposition Leader said.

over//

– Press release from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition