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Initiatives in Fiji’s 2010 national Budget are designed to keep the economy ticking through the global downturn and build a stronger economic platform for sustainable growth and poverty alleviation, said chartered accountancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
In a commentary on the budget, the firm said the reduction of duty rates on certain electronic and luxury items, removal of price controls and introduction of special initiatives for the tourism, ICT and energy sectors and changes to import and export duties were commendable.
However, it said that as in prior budgets, one significant sector which continues to be neglected is manufacturing “which may continue to struggle”.
As outlined by the firm, key highlights of the budget are a targeted net deficit of 3.5 percent of GDP with the government to focus on ensuring that resource allocation decisions are contained within the approved expenditure limits.
In the medium term, government targets economic growth of five percent, inflation to be
reduced to three percent over five years, maintenance of minimum foreign exchange reserves to cover five months of imports, reduction of debt to 40 percent of GDP and increasing the annual employment rate by three percent.
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