Monetary policy stance aids growth

RESERVE BANK OF FIJI
SUVA
The Reserve Bank of Fiji says the accommodative monetary policy stance adopted by the central bank since 2010 has supported economic growth.
Governor of the Reserve Bank, Barry Whiteside, noted this has resulted in four years of consecutive growth in the country.
The Reserve Bank has therefore decided to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate at 0.5 per cent.
“Reserve Bank closely monitors developments in the economy such as indicators on credit, consumption, investment, Government expenditure, labour market and external trade,” he said.
“Also its impact on the bank’s core objectives which are foreign reserves and inflation.
“In this regard, the current monetary policy stance is appropriate as the outlook for foreign reserves and inflation is comfortable”.
Inflation in February was 0.2 per cent, the lowest since April 2009 and was largely because of the free primary and secondary education announced in the 2014 National Budget.
Foreign reserves as at March 28 are provisionally estimated at $1,705 million which is sufficient to cover 4.5 months of goods and non-factor services.
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