“We must be focused on getting out of the hole we are in, and not digging ourselves deeper into debt.”
This, according to Unity Fiji party leader and former Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) governor Savenaca Narube.
He said while there was optimism and restoration of confidence coming through, but “we are not out of the woods yet by any means”.
“I think not enough discussion is centred on the risks going forward. First, how deep is the hole we are in right now? Second, how do we dig ourselves out of this mess, out of this hole, and thirdly in doing that, digging ourselves out, we have to be mindful that we don’t dig a deeper hole in the process.
“That’s the risk that I think we need to put in the forefront of our strategic planning. So how deep is the hole? I think we all know that.
“Let me just point out the economy, in my view, will not get back to where it was in 2019 until 2025. I differ from Shiri (Gounder). He said 2024. I said no, 2025. So that’s a long period of gestation, long period of decline.”
Mr Narube said without COVID, the country’s average growth rate in the long term was around 2 per cent, which was enough to get Fiji to where it needed to be.
“We talk a lot about debt, we know it is the highest yet in history, but nobody talks about debt servicing too much. What is debt servicing?
“It’s crowding out the initial expenses of the Government. In my calculation, 44 per cent or 44 cents in each dollar that we get from domestic revenue goes to payment of our debt. That crowds out spending in Government.”
Mr Narube said Fiji found itself “nearly at the end of the queue”, as other Pacific Island Countries who used to be quite lower in terms of welfare and living standards were now catching up.
