FIJI’S economy is too risky for retirement investment, according to Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube, who says he would not invest his own retirement savings in the country if it were a business.
Speaking on The Fiji Times’ online portal The Lens@177, Mr Narube described the economy as “sick” and warned that key economic indicators pointed to serious structural weaknesses.
“Unfortunately, no,” he said when asked whether he would invest his retirement funds in Fiji’s economy.
“If you look at the health of our economy, it is sick, it is really ill. I believe we really need to understand the seriousness of where we are.”
Mr Narube said investment decisions should be based on economic data rather than sentiment, arguing that Fiji’s economic performance had remained weak for decades.
“If we study the number, we are in a very weak position, perhaps for the last 30 years.”
He highlighted sluggish economic growth, saying Fiji’s GDP growth had been revised down to below 2 per cent when it should be between 3.5 and 4 per cent.
Mr Narube also raised concerns about the country’s debt burden.
“Whatever indicators of debt that anyone should use, our debt is too high for us, unsustainable for us.”
He said Fiji was overly dependent on tourism, which he described as “a very fragile sector of the economy”, while other sectors had failed to make significant progress over the past two decades.
“We all know, we all realise that relying on one industry of tourism is too risky for us.
“And they (government) are telling us no, no, we’re going ahead, tourism is fine, but they are not attending to the other sectors.
“And the other sectors, I think to me clearly are the natural resource sectors.
“We are not harvesting our natural resources to the level that we should be. It’s out there and we need to process those natural resources.
“We have been talking about it for decades and decades, nothing much has happened.”
‘Illegal to postpone polls due to economy’
IT would be unconstitutional and illegal for any government to delay a general election on the grounds of poor economic performance, says Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube.
Speaking on The Fiji Times’ online portal The Lens@177, Mr Narube dismissed suggestions that economic conditions could be used as a justification for postponing elections, saying Fiji’s Constitution provides clear guidance on the matter.
“It’s unconstitutional to use the economy as the reason not to have elections.
It cannot be done. It’s illegal,” he said.
The former Reserve Bank of Fiji governor said the only circumstance under which elections could be deferred was during a state of emergency.
“It only can be done if there’s a state of emergency. It’s there clearly in the Constitution.”
Mr Narube said governments could not choose election dates based on whether economic conditions were favourable or unfavourable.
“So, you cannot say, ‘Oh, the economy is not doing well this year. I’ll wait till it rises to have the election.’ No, it doesn’t have that limit.”
His comments come amid ongoing debate about Fiji’s economic outlook and the political implications of slowing growth and rising fiscal pressures.
Mr Narube stressed that constitutional provisions must be respected regardless of the economic situation facing the country.
He maintained that adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law must remain paramount, irrespective of economic challenges or political considerations.
Fiji’s economy is too risky for retirement investment, according to Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube, who says he would not invest his own retirement savings in the country if it were a business. Picture: JONACANI LALAKOBAU
