FIJI’S economic fundamentals have strengthened over the last two years, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Prof Biman Prasad/
And the Government foresees no looming threat in the horizon that may destabilise its prospects.
Not even in the current tariff debacle playing out in the United States under its new president Donald Trump against its main trading partners China, Canada and Mexico.
While addressing yesterday’s ‘State of the Economy Breakfast Talanoa’ in Suva, organised by the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation, Prof Prasad called for calm, saying it was too early to assess how the US tariff issue may affect Fiji.
“Some people are saying to me that if the tariffs are put on Canada and China, where we buy from, we could see cheaper stuffs coming to the Pacific and Fiji,” Prof Prasad said.
“Because there will be excess capacity in countries like China, obviously they will want to sell.
“Their exports to US will become expensive for those countries so they obviously would look for opportunities elsewhere.
“So we could benefit in some sense but as I said, it is too early. Some of it has not been put yet.”
He urged delegates to “not be alarmist” while conceding that some impact may flow on through transmission mechanisms such as trade, remittances and labour mobility to impact Fiji if things got worse.
“I don’t think that there is an immediate threat with respect to how the transmission mechanisms are going to work and how the Fiji economy is going to be affected so it’s still too early and I personally think it’s not going to have any significant or drastic impact.”
Prof Prasad said economic indicators from Fiji’s financial system, tax collection, remittances, investment lending and external positions were indicating a strong domestic economy.
“In light of these developments, I am confident that the growth projection of 3.4 percent for this year is on track and could even surpass expectations,” he said.
NOTE: This article was first published in the print edition of the Fiji Times dated FEBRUARY 20, 2025.
