Annual inflation rate rose to 2% in March

The Governor and Chairman of the Reserve Bank of Fiji Board, Ariff Ali says the International Monetary Fund’s recent downgrade of the global growth forecast for 2023 revealed the emergence of economic fragilities, which, when coupled with persistent inflation can dampen domestic development prospects.”

Ali says the headline annual inflation rate rose to 2 percent in March, lower than the outcome last year of 4.7 percent.

Foreign reserves are at $3.3 billion, sufficient to cover 6.1 months of retained imports, and is projected to remain adequate in the near to medium term.

The Reserve Bank of Fiji Board has decided to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate at 0.25 percent.