The total Government debt stock stood at $9.5 billion, equivalent to 80 per cent of the country’s GDP, at the end of July 2023, according to Finance Ministry permanent secretary Shiri Gounder.
In the provisional Government Fiscal Performance for 2022-2023, Mr Gounder said this was lower than the revised estimated debt target of 81.2 per cent of GDP and the original budgeted debt target of 85.2 per cent.
In addition, Mr Gounder said the Government debt was anticipated to fall further to around 78 per cent of GDP in 2023-2024.
As per the report, the total revenue for the year stood at $2.7b (22.6 per cent of GDP) and total expenditure was about $3.6b (29.5 per cent of GDP).
“Fiji is on a path of fiscal consolidation to rebuild its fiscal buffers after the pandemic-induced stress on public finances,” Mr Gounder wrote.
“With the strong recovery in the Fijian economy, supported by a strong rebound in tourism, remittances and overall consumption, and a relatively lower fiscal deficit, Government debt to GDP ratio has significantly declined from around 89 per cent to 80 per cent at the end of last fiscal year.
“Debt to GDP ratio is projected to decline further as the Government embarked on major revenue generating tax reforms, which subsequently resulted in a relatively lower fiscal deficit for 2023-2024.
“The current growth momentum in the domestic economy will further complement these efforts towards fiscal consolidation and debt sustainability.”
Mr Gounder said there were also risks that emanated from global economic developments, which included geo-political tensions, rising fuel prices as well as a massive skill loss due to outward migration.
He said there were capacity constraints in the tourism industry and Fiji’s vulnerability to natural disasters continued.
Mr Gounder said the debt to GDP ratio reduction by 8.8 percentage points was driven by a strong rebound in the domestic economy and a relatively lower net deficit during the fiscal year.
