|
October 22th 1999
PM ponders over low investment
 |
by PAUL YAVALA
PRIME Minister Mahendra Chaudhry is worried about what he calls the continued low levels of investment.
He made his concern known in a joint meeting of the Fiji-Australia Business Council and its Australian counterpart at the Warwick Hotel yesterday
Mr Chaudhry said he hoped that the start of a number of newhotel projects in the coming year would help stimulate investment in the building and construction sector. |
"I can tell you now that Government is committed to providing infrastructure support for these projects in its budget for next year." he told the meeting.
"These include the exciting Natadola tourism development complex where Colonial has set the pace for locally based investors in staking a firm investment interest."
Mr Chaudhry also spoke about an investment package which he said would include a number of "investment friendly" tax provisions for all investors.
He said latest economic indicators from the Reserve Bank of Fiji were very positive.
- Real GDP for 1999 is forecast to expand by over seven per cent.
- Tourist arrivals in the first seven months of this year increased by 9.6 per cent over the same period last year.
- Gold production picked up by 3.2 per cent in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year.
- The negative inflation rate of 0.1 per cent in the year to August is expected to fall further.
- Lending rates by commercial banks have declined to 8.6 per cent.
- Foreign reserves at mid-September were at 5789 million or 4-5 months of imports.
|
Mr Chaudhry. said he cited these statistics to stress the point that Fiji's economic recovery was well on target.
View more project updates >> |
|
