Fuel prices are forecast to further rise while wheat prices are also expected to increase

Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says Fiji’s annual headline inflation has been increasing since the second half of 2021 and was 3 percent in December last year.

He says higher prices were noted mainly for food and fuel resulting from the surge in global commodity prices and continued supply chain disruptions.

Inflation rate was 2.7 percent in January this year, led by higher prices for food and fuel as well as household furnishings, maintenance and health products.

Sayed-Khaiyum says over the next few months, we can expect some domestic inflation to rise in particular fruits and vegetables and because of damages in places like Sigatoka and Ba.

He further says according to the International Monetary Fund, crude oil prices are forecast to rise further by 11.9 percent this year however the sharp rise in oil prices should start to ease from later this year.

Sayed-Khaiyum adds wheat prices are also expected to go up.

The Minister for Economy says they are working behind the scenes to see how they can mitigate inflated prices.

He says inflation stayed in the negative range for around 16 months between October 2019 and January 2021,

Sayed-Khaiyum says since August 2021, inflation has been on an upward trajectory led by supply side constraints, recovery of domestic demand, relaxation of COVID-19 relaxation and higher freight costs.

He says in December last year, inflation in the USA was 7 percent, the highest in almost 4 decades, 5.9 percent in New Zealand and 3.5 percent in Australia, the highest since 2014.

Sayed-Khaiyum says given these countries are our key trading partners, high inflation in these countries will be passed on to our domestic prices through the goods that we import from these countries.