Economy ‘vulnerable’
ONE of the country’s leading economists says the Fijian economy is vulnerable to a “big natural disaster”.
University of the South Pacific senior economics lecturer Dr Neelesh Gounder said given the debt level, the government must be mindful of Fiji’s vulnerability to economic shocks.
“I don’t think the economy is going to collapse because the economy is now growing. That’s a positive sign,” he said.
“We also have recoveries in progress now. And then all the economic indicators show that the economy is in progress.
“So the economy isn’t going to collapse. But things can change during a very short period of time.
“The scenario that we have right now can change, say, for instance, within one to two years if we have a natural disaster.
“If we have a big natural disaster and as natural disasters have a large impact on the economy, this means that the economy won’t be growing. And if the economy is not growing, the government isn’t going to collect enough revenue, to pay for public services, to invest in infrastructure, but also to meet the debt servicing requirements and then serious challenges can arise as we saw in case of Sri Lanka.”
Dr Gounder said policymakers and government have to be very alert in terms of Fiji’s debt and how it is managed.
He said government must ensure the economy continuously grows, so it is able to not only fund public services and invest in infrastructure but also to ensure Fiji is able to service debts and ensure that the economy is continuously expanding and growing “so that we also lift more and more people out of out of poverty”.