SUVA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said the country's inflation rate is likely to drop to 5 pct by year-end, 3.1 percent in 2023, and 2.4 percent in 2024, according to the state-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation news website on Monday.
"We are positive enough that the oil prices will drop as well over the next few months," he said.
Fiji's inflation rate was relatively high during the second half of the 2021-22 financial year because of COVID-19 restrictions and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Bainimarama said.
He has therefore reminded Fijians to be wary of evolving global issues, as the world continues to feel the ripple effects of the increasing prices of food and oil.
Bainimarama said the inflation rate is forecast to drop by December, including the prices of selected imported food and oil.
The government has reportedly set aside 60 million Fijian dollars (about 27 million U.S. dollars) in this financial year, to cushion the economic impacts.
A stronger-than-expected tourism recovery prompted the Reserve Bank of Fiji to recently upgrade its GDP growth forecasts to 12.4 percent in 2022, up 1.1 percentage points from the previous December 2021 estimate, and 9.2 percent in 2023, up 0.7 percentage points. ■