Fiji's economic growth will pick up next year - IMF

The Fijian economy will recover next year where growth will be faster because the tourism sector will have a better year as New Zealand and Australia are expected to get stronger, and the Fijian government is also making public debt reduction a priority in the current budget.

This has been highlighted by International Monetary Fund's Mission Chief, Pablo Lopez Murphy at the Global Developments and Prospects: Implications for Fiji Seminar at the Reserve Bank last night.

Murphy says economic growth in Fiji has been about 1% this year but that is estimated to increase to about 1.8% next year.

He says for further improvements the government should try to improve the business environment for private sector which simply means trying to promote private investment.

Murphy says the government has provided significant support to the economy particularly after Tropical Cyclone Winston but the focus should be more on the private sector and for that to happen an improvement in the business environment will be helpful.

He says the government has made it clear in the budget that reducing public debt is a priority.

Murphy says he is confident that the government will go in that direction.