The Reserve Bank of Fiji says the growth of the Fijian economy is likely to be higher than the six per cent forecasted in November.
RBF Governor Ariff Ali in the latest update issued by the central bank said Fiji’s inflation continues to be underpinned largely by imported inflation and mainly in the food and energy categories, while foreign reserves remain at comfortable levels $3.3 billion.
He said this is enough to cover 25 weeks of retained imports of goods and services-projected to be adequate in the medium term.
“Considering Fiji’s ongoing recovery and the comfortable outlook for the RBF’s monetary policy objectives, the Board decided to keep an accommodative monetary policy stance.”
“The impact of global and domestic developments will continue to be monitored and if required, the monetary policy stance will be adjusted accordingly,” Ali said.
He highlighted that investment activity continues to recover at a moderate pace, proxied by the pick-up in new lending to both the real estate and building and construction sectors and accommodative financial conditions have continued to support economic recovery.
“Banking system liquidity sufficiently stands at $2.3 billion, keeping outstanding rates at historic low levels and new rates competitive enough to drive private sector credit growth.”
Ali added that the RBF Board decided that the Overnight Policy Rate of 0.25 per cent, while economic fragilities, will continue to shape global growth prospects.
“The latest macroeconomic indicators reveal that Fiji continues to recover from the strengthening tourism industry and its positive domino effect on related sectors.”
“Visitor arrivals are expected to reach 2019 levels by the end of 2023, faster than earlier anticipated following the better-than-expected arrivals in the year to April (252,245 visitors) which was higher than the corresponding 2019 level by 1.4 percent.”
“Strong consumption activity to date has been supported by increased incomes from higher employment and the steady growth in personal remittances and new consumption loans.”
