tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5910840615729183764.post685509593675380914..comments2023-08-13T23:59:46.617+13:00Comments on discombobulated bubu: An inconsistent irrational state of accounts for FijiUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5910840615729183764.post-76854995931269126902008-11-24T17:22:00.000+13:002008-11-24T17:22:00.000+13:00Following from @Journo's comment this quip from Iv...Following from @Journo's comment this quip from Ivestor Businessman Colin Bishop on the same site was also insightful.<BR/><BR/>Colin Bishop Says:<BR/>November 24, 2008 at 4:06 pm<BR/><BR/>The prospect of no elections and a budget that is not friendly to a mid size business has meant that if I intend to continue in Fiji I will have to support the company myself. The family trust that owns the company is very keen to increase my shareholding to any additional amount I wish to invest as long as they can reduce theirs.<BR/><BR/>Basically my family is keen to bail out of Fiji and concentrate on the NZ business.<BR/><BR/>There reasoning is as follows.<BR/>1. They do not believe that the business environment in Fiji will improve until 24 months after elections and for the first time since starting we are trading at a loss.<BR/>2. After the rather free financial environment in NZ they are confused and uneasy with the fact that FIRCA doesn’t pay out quickly on VAT refunds and the possibility that money may not be able to be returned easily to NZ in the future.<BR/>3. One of the family has been hit hard in the failure of a NZ finance company and is now counting pennies so he isn’t keen to invest further.<BR/>4. The Fiji Budget gave us no assistance at all and my accountant daughter doesn’t believe the necessary income in the budget will be generated. She believes the IG will have to devalue in the future and this will hit us hard.<BR/><BR/>It is traditional in a recession that investment money is repatriated to the home country. Unfortunately the world wide recession this time has arrived just as Fiji needs major new investment.<BR/><BR/>I will continue in Fiji because I believe in the country and the people but it is getting painful on my pockets and if our experience is being replicated in all other medium size business in Fiji then there is no way the budget income will be generated.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5910840615729183764.post-71634019174312322012008-11-24T11:51:00.000+13:002008-11-24T11:51:00.000+13:00Those were interesting links and a timely reminder...Those were interesting links and a timely reminder as to what has gone on before. Perhaps the regime relies on people having short memories?<BR/><BR/>In relation to your former posting regarding the Military budget allocation to themselves I read something interesting on Solivakasama's site :<BR/><BR/>Corruption Fighter Says:<BR/>November 22, 2008 at 6:09 pm<BR/><BR/>It was a sure bet that when Frank brought down the 2009 budget the biggest winner by far would be the RFMF. The rest of us are the losers as he throws good money after bad.<BR/><BR/>Don’t forget the 2008 Budget allocation for the RFMF was $82-million and, depending on which reports and informed estimates you believe, that was overspent by anything from $35-million to $45-million, or in the vicinity of 50 per cent!<BR/><BR/>But, as a fiscally responsible interim minister for finance, Frank is always talking about “good governance” and any other technical-sounding terms he has learned to pronounce. So we can be sure that Frank, in his infinite wisdom, has done his best to ensure that this gross pattern of overspending is not repeated in 2009, and what better way to do that than by giving the RFMF’s allocation a hefty increase to match the actual year-on-year expenditure? How fiscally responsible is that (yes, I am being sarcastic)?<BR/><BR/>In the event; Frank used his powers as interim finance minister to increase the RFMF budget to $100-million. It’s a case of Santa Claus arriving early as far as the RFMF is concerned.<BR/><BR/>It also means that Fiji now assumes a unique position in the world, because when outlays for the RFMF are expressed as a percentage of our gross budget they represent the highest percentage outlay on “defence” of any country I know of, including the really big boys like the United States, China or Russia!<BR/><BR/>And just think, the only “enemy” the RFMF might conceivably face in the foreseeable future is us, the poor, unarmed and untrained citizens!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com