The resource sectors have not changed their problematic trajectory, weighing down on economic growth, evident in production data released by the Reserve Bank of Fiji in its May Economic Review released this week.
A strong tourism on the other hand is doing most, if not all of the heavy lifting, performing “above expectations”.
“Domestically, the tourism sector continues to perform above expectations. Cumulative to April, Fiji received 271,683 visitors, 7.7 per cent higher than the same period in 2023. Higher arrivals from Asia (60.4per cent), the United States of America (14.0 per cent), the UK/Europe (13.5 per cent), and New Zealand (12.2 per cent) underpinned this growth outcome,” RBF stated.
“Arrivals from Australia, Fiji’s largest source market, declined marginally by 0.4 per cent to 123,491 visitors as Australian travel preference shifted to other destinations such as Indonesia and Japan.”
Fiji is missing out of seeing real growth potential with the poor performance from resource sectors contrasting the tourism boom that have come and gone.
“Industry-specific issues” are blamed for the weak performance.
In the year to April, pinewood supply declined by 43.1 per cent, woodchips by 23.1 per cent, sawn timber by 12.1 per cent, mahogany by 16.7 per cent and mineral water by 16.2 per cent.
Gold, which began its recovery early this year as the Tuvatu Gold project began production, was the only exception, registering a 50.2 per cent increase in production “attributed to improvements in production by both Vatukoula Gold Mine Ltd and Tuvatu Gold Mine,” RBF stated.
