Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. (René Descartes, mathematician and philosopher,1599-1650)

Saturday 16 November 2013

Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On. Three short pieces on the Budget

No Win Situation
If this government didn't improve on education, road upgrades, pay rises for civil servants and other good things that have come out of the national budget, they would be labeled  as not doing anything good for the people of Fiji.

Now that they have actually put in place measures for the betterment of our people, especially education, it's called voter buying. Any which way the government moves they just can't seem to win with these people.

Whatever the government does or does not do, some people will always see the negative side. Even with all these positives some people still see  negatives. Aren't these people tired of harbouring dislike? Many of us have moved on but some are still stuck in that proverbial rut that they dug for themselves.

There are a lot of people around with souls that are starting to go black.

Interesting Figures
This is the first time I've seen the number of workers in each salary bracket.

Civil servants earning less that $15,400 number a little more than 14,000.
Civil servants earning in between $15,400 to $20,600 number around 6,000.
Civil servants earning in between $20,600 to $26,700 number around 4,000.
Civil servants earning in between $26,700 to $34,200 number around 2,000.
There will be very few earning $34,200 to $46,000 and as we go up the civil service hierarchy the numbers  are even less.

If earning less than $15,400 is the poverty line, some 14,000 civil servants live below the poverty line. These workers especially deserve the pay increases announced in the budget.

Traders
The new budget prices came into effect on the day the budget was announced. Does this apply to old stock or should they only apply to new stock? What about when import duty goes down, do traders also lower the price of old stock?

One person said that most traders immediately raised prices on all goods on which duty rates went up. They did it like greased lightning.

And when the duty rates go down, prices remain the same, because the trader either lost his marker pen or couldn't understand the meaning of lower duty rates.

But oh boy, they sure know the meaning of the words - "duty rates have gone up."

Customers will know from the prices which traders are honest.

Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.


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