Singapore tops Fiji’s trade debt list

August 24, 2009 05:22:53 PM

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Singapore remained at the top of Fiji’s trade balance list as latest economic data from the Fiji Islands Bureau of Statistics (FIBOS) revealed that Fiji’s overall Balance of Trade (BOT) jumped 26 percent in 2008, a bulk of that attributed to the Fiji-Singapore merchandise exchange. 

In its latest data release for the month ended June 2009, FBIOS also released Fiji’s 2008 Balance of Trade figures, reflecting a sharp rise in imbalance between merchandise exports and import value. 

Total annual BOT for 2008 was a deficit of F$2.13 billion, an increase of 26.7 percent from the F$1.68 billion that Fiji owed its trading partners in 2007.  This continued on a trend of lower exports against higher import trend that Fiji had maintained over the years, as evident from FBIOS figures. 

Singapore maintained its strong lead, registering the highest annual BOT by country, followed by Australia and New Zealand. 

In 2008, the value of Fiji’s balance of trade with Singapore was F$1.24 billion, where Fiji imported over F$1.25 billion worth of merchandise from it against a mere F$13.4 million earned from exports to the Asian economic powerhouse.

“Our major import from Singapore is mineral fuels,” FBIOS statistics officer Deena Kamoda told FijiLive. 

Fiji’s mineral imports registered a historical high value of F$1.25 billion in 2008, jumping 28 percent from F$976million in 2007 and 20 percent from F$1.04 million in 2006. 

All of that was imported from Singapore, while other import components were aeroplane parts and chemical fertilizers. 

Fiji’s exports to Singapore last year comprised mineral water, frozen fish, jewelries and aeroplanes parts.  

Meanwhile, Australia and New Zealand followed Singapore closely, as countries to which Fiji owed import payments, with deficits of F$708 million and F$477 million respectively. 

Overall, Fiji imported over F$3.6 billion worth of merchandise in 2008 against its export earnings of F$1.47 billion.