There is a link between Fiji’s economic and financial situation and security, says Home Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua.
He said once the debt level became manageable, everything else would sort itself out.
Speaking to senior officials of the Fiji Police Force and officers stationed at Vunidawa Police Station at the end of his Eastern Division tour this week, he said that once Fiji’s financial status was rectified, “our security will also fall into place”.
“I’ll be quite honest here with you, the nation’s financial status is not really in a good state,” Mr Tikoduadua said.
“We can see a serious debt situation, but not unmanageable.
“The faster we try and better our financial status, then we’ll see that right after financial, is security.
“We need to get our house in order to be able to look after our country, our nation and our people.”
The World Bank released a new report — Pacific Economic Update — which stated that while Fiji had one of the highest dept-to-GDP ratios, it was still one of the strongest performing Pacific economies in 2022.
The report said the strong level of performance was maintained by the rebounding tourism sector and GDP growth after several years of negative growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report forecasted that the economy would continue a stable growth trajectory, where inflation could fall as low as 2 per cent through 2023.
