Economy in ‘modest slowdown’
LACK of confidence combined with global trade slowdown has resulted in the Fijian economy going through a “modest slowdown”, says Westpac Banking Corporation economist Justin Smirk.
He made the comment while speaking to this newspaper during the opening of the 25th AustraliaFiji Business Forum in Brisbane, Australia.
“The construction industry has slowed down, business credit has slowed down, employment is slowing down, so it’s really highlighting that the economy is not falling away but coming off a couple years of strong growth and it’s now going through a much slower growth profile,” he said.
“It’s really sort of highlighting that these effects that we are seeing globally – even though Fiji has lots of advantages it is going at a slower trend now.
“It has gone through 10 years of growth and entering that period of time, there have also been some big chops out there as well — both domestic and external like even with natural disasters.”
He said despite the slowdown, the Fijian economy was showing itself to be a fairly resilient economy and fairly adaptive.
“That’s a very strong message to take away. We are talking about growth slowing, but the resilience of the Fijian economy means that it’s not falling into something that’s dangerous and growth can be stronger than that it is, but it is still slowing down,’ he said.
“What we’re experiencing is a bit of a cyclical slowdown and it’s waiting on the domestic environment and waiting on business confidence.
“Making doing business easier is a good positive scene, how you encourage new investment is another positive with the tax rate arrangements.
“Fiji already has a fairly good level of human capital so that the people – their education, their abilities, and their natural skills are there, how do you lift those?”
He said there were measures the Government could look at as the economy experienced a slowdown, however, these were not quick solutions.