THE main thrust of government’s medium term fiscal strategy is to raise economic growth within a stable fiscal and macro- economic environment says Ministry of Finance permanent secretary Filimone Waqabaca.
“This requires concerted efforts to ensure growth friendly policies are pursued to raise the overall investment and productivity levels in the country,” Mr Waqabaca said.
“The need to raise economic growth has consolidated government’s fiscal position.”
The permanent secretary said with Fiji’s narrow-based economy and challenges, government must continue to carefully manage its finances to support growth, meet debt servicing obligations and have spare fiscal capacity to respond to economic shocks.
“To support growth, government has opted for a more gradual reduction in budget deficits over the next three years as this allows for sufficient resources to be made available investor confidence and protecting Fiji from the onslaught of ongoing global challenges,” Mr Waqabaca said.
“At this stage Fiji is not unduly affected by the uncertainty in the global economy.”
Highlighting the Fijian economy’s position to buffer the impact of any large external shock, Mr Waqabaca said Fiji had strong reserve positions, competitive exchange rates, low inflation and government reforms.
MINFO