Watch for the ditch, Reddy chides businesses

October 29, 2009 09:42:03 AM

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The governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji has chided Fiji’s private sector not to look too much at the past because they might “end up in a ditch” by looking too much in the rear view mirror.

Addressing a gathering of business heads at the 30th anniversary celebrations of the South Pacific Stock Exchange in Suva last night, Reddy said the worst for the Fiji economy was over and growth projections for 2010 still remained at around two percent.

“I don’t want to be dwelling on this year’s figures too much,” said Reddy.

“I don’t think we should be looking too much in the rear view mirror because we might end up in ditch. All that I’m asking people is that businesses make money in the future, not in the past. Only academics and historians make money out of the past. So look to the future and see what the potentials are for us,” he said.

Upward growth revisions being made more frequently than in the past indicated that the global economy was turning around faster than what was expected three to four months ago, he said.

The RBF was getting positive signals from all the sectors of the Fiji economy, said Reddy.

“Tourism is almost back on par with last year and the forward bookings are also showing very good results. I think what we will see by the end of next year will be very good results for tourism.”

“The sugar industry is not doing that well. There is a lot of potential but the latest figures we have received shows that the production may be lower than forecast.”