Development Policy Centre Podcast

The episode opens with Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad reflecting on his transition from academia to politics. Born in Dreketi, Vanua Levu, in a rice farming area that benefited from Australian aid programs in the 1970s, Prasad rose through the academic ranks to become Professor of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of the South Pacific. He left academia in 2014 to lead the National Federation Party, entering politics during what he describes as a challenging period following the 2006 coup and years of military rule.Prasad characterises the government that ruled from 2014 to 2022 as an "elective dictatorship," noting that despite elections being held, strict media censorship, restrictions on freedom of speech, and draconian laws carried over from the military regime created an undemocratic environment. His eight years in opposition taught him valuable lessons about the tension between good economics and good politics — a perspective he now applies as Finance Minis